


Heroes and Lovers

by trixwitch



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Bandit Evil Queen | Regina Mills, F/F, Falling In Love, Season/Series 04, The Enchanted Forest, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-01 15:06:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15776544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trixwitch/pseuds/trixwitch
Summary: When the Author writes everyone into his reversed world of "Heroes and Villains," Emma Swan is the only one to retain her memories. She shows up in the Enchanted Forest with no idea what's happening, and eventually runs into Bandit Regina. The Queen's knights attack at that moment, and Emma is badly wounded. Regina takes her back to her camp to care for her, and when Emma wakes up, things between them start to change. Will Emma respond to Bandit Regina's clear interest in her? Will she find a way to break out of this cursed book? Will they be able to find Henry? Read on to find out.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Heroes and Lovers [ART]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15792375) by [Lego_Femslash (Alicepire)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alicepire/pseuds/Lego_Femslash). 



> If you haven't seen the Season 4a finale, here's a quick context guide for what you need to know in my fic:  
> The stories of the people in Storybrooke have long been recorded by an Author, who writes them with a magical pen in books just like the one Henry has. Everything that's written is unchangeable. Except the current Author, named Isaac, has started to abuse that power and change things for his own gain, rather than just recording it. He teams up with Mr. Gold to write a new book where villains get their happy endings, and everyone else suffers. This book - called Heroes and Villains - traps everyone in that particular story.
> 
> There are more details on the show, but that's all that's relevant here. I also ignored the whole thing of Henry becoming the next Author.

All great stories need an author to tell them. And this one is no different. The difference here is that the Author also played a role in the story he was supposed to be writing. He broke the rules, and while he has been punished for it, the damage, as they say, is done. Although, as in any story, nothing is as simple as all good or all bad, and some good certainly did come from this Author’s meddling. 

When the Author found himself in Storybrooke, Maine, he immediately established an alliance with the most powerful of the characters he had chronicled for so long - Rumplestiltskin. Rumplestiltskin, or Mr. Gold as he was known at that point, knew exactly what he wanted from the Author. He wanted to erase all of the debt he’d accrued over the years by screwing people over and committing murder and probably a lot more to get his way. The Author could give him that fresh start by creating a realm where the rules were different. In this land, everyone was simply and completely locked into who the Author imagined them to be. There was no changing, no growing, just live your life with the role you were given and be done with it. And of course, Rumplestiltskin wanted his role to be one of power, but also popularity. He was tired of being feared - it was time to be adored. In this new land, he would not only get that, but be guaranteed to keep it.

But others who were trapped in this world had a much more nuanced path to walk. Take, for example, Regina, who had remade herself many times in her own realm, and now was put into the position of living out the story of the person she had spent years trying to kill. Her story now mirrored Snow White’s, which the Author thought would be the perfect revenge for her. But fate has a funny way of shining through even the most airtight of revenge plots, and Regina had already set herself on a path that would open her up to love and kindness and connection in ways she had forgotten were possible for many years, despite the story the Author had used to keep her contained. He had no idea that Regina would be a key player to undoing the story he so carefully planned out.

Really, though, the Author’s most dangerous oversight was Emma Swan. The Savior. As the linchpin of the story he’d been recording, her role could not be un-written, so she remained the Savior, and remained aware of all of her memories from the past, unlike everyone else. Emma Swan’s way of leaping before she looked made the carefully crafted plot of the Author’s new realm much less rigid than he had expected. And when Emma’s insight and determination met Regina’s openness and passion, something quite unexpected happened. This is that story.


	2. Emma's Arrival

One minute Emma Swan was walking down Main Street with her family, and the next minute she was trying to catch her balance, standing in the middle of a forest. The Enchanted Forest, to be exact. She could tell the minute she took a breath - the air was practically laced with magic here. The first time she had visited she hadn’t been able to tell, or maybe just couldn’t have said what it was about the air itself that made the hair on the back of her neck raise all the time there. It had driven her nuts when she’d been there the second time, when she and Hook fell through that time portal. By that point she could recognize her own magic, but hadn’t been able to understand that it was the magic surrounding her that made her skin crawl the entire time she was in the Forest. There were plenty of other things about that visit that had occupied her thoughts instead. But this time was different. This time the air made her feel energized, as if the tingling in her limbs were a kind of electricity, thrumming through her in an intensely satisfying way. She felt … powerful.

But she was also totally confused. What had just happened? Clearly she had been transported to the Enchanted Forest, but she hadn’t seen a curse, or a portal or anything before it happened. And where was the rest of her family? She’d been walking with Henry and Regina, and her parents and Hook were just a couple of steps behind. But now all of a sudden she was alone.

“Hello?” Emma called, just in case. “Henry? Regina?”

Nothing. Some birds chirped in a nearby bush, and Emma eyed them. You never knew around here what was just a bird and what was someone who’d been turned into a bird by Rumplestiltskin or something. 

Oh. The realization of what might have happened rose up in her brain. Rumplestiltskin - Mr. Gold - had gotten his hands on the Author. And they’d done something. She didn’t know what, but they’d written something that brought her here. And suddenly, the very real possibility that she was, in fact, entirely alone made every muscle in Emma’s body contract in fear. She let out an involuntary and entirely joyless laugh. Four years ago she was completely alone nearly every day of her life. And now the thought of being separated from her family made her heart constrict. Things certainly had changed.

_ Alright, enough wallowing _ , she said to herself.  _ Time to figure out what happened. _

 

***

It didn’t take long for Emma to realize she’d been walking in a circle. Some rational part of her brain had remembered something Hook had done in Neverland, so she found a sharp rock to use to mark the trees she walk by every few feet. The first mark she passed, she tricked herself into believing that it was something else. But the second one was unmistakable - she remembered cutting through that weird lichen thing on the bark. Frustration bubbled over, and she kicked at the tree in question. How the hell was she supposed to figure out what was going on if she couldn’t even find a goddamn path through the goddamn forest? She slumped against a tree trunk. She wished everyone was here with her. She fidgeted in her jacket, and then pulled it off draped it over her arm. God, it was hot here.

Alright. If her family wasn’t here, she’d just have to try to think like them to help her figure things out. What would Henry say if he were here?

Emma’s mouth quirked up at the sides. Henry would probably have it all figured out by now. He would have arrived with his book, flipped through three pages, pinpointed the exact location of that rock over there, and explained the whole thing just from that one detail. Well, she didn’t have that. But maybe there was something she could remember about the book that would help? She stared around her, trying to match trees and shrubs to pictures she’d seen. Nothing.

OK, fine. What would her parents do? Well, Snow had lived in these woods for a long time. She would probably be able to find her way out. How did she do that tracking thing? Emma sighed, her recent failure at not walking in a circle nixing that idea immediately.

Regina? Emma sighed. Regina would just poof herself… Emma’s thoughts trailed off as if she had said it out loud. Her face went red, and she was suddenly very grateful that nobody was here to witness this. She had magic. She was in the most magical of realms. She just needed a destination in mind, and she could get there. OK, then. She closed her eyes and pictured one of only a few places she could clearly remember both from Henry’s book and her last stint in this land. She stilled her mind, like Regina had taught her to, and opened herself to the magic that was skittering all around her. It flooded into her system, and she just barely managed to harness it before it took her over. She waved a hand, and felt her feet connect with the hard ground, stumbling a little bit as she appeared exactly where she wanted to be.

Well, mostly. She probably should have poofed outside the tavern, rather than smack in the middle of the crowded room. OK, make that definitely. A hush settled over the room and all eyes turned to her. She took a couple of steps back towards the door, as more than a few swords were being drawn around the edges of the room. She put up her hands.

“Sorry, everyone. Didn’t mean to startle you. I’m um… I’m looking for my family.”

When the faces didn’t get any friendlier, she decided this maybe wasn’t the best idea, and hurried out of the door. Thankfully nobody decided to follow her (maybe they just assumed some witch had gotten drunk and ended up in the wrong tavern?). She walked to the edge of the clearing and sat down on a stump, kicking straw off the bottom of her boots. Well, that went badly. But at least she was near people and not lost in the middle of the woods. That had to be a good thing if she was going to find help somewhere.

And then, like something straight out of a fucking fairytale, this white horse rode up out of nowhere, prancing and snorting like it owned the place. A knight, dressed in gold-washed armor that shimmered in the sunlight, reigned the horse in and walked it towards her. Emma told herself to close her mouth, silently cursing fairytales back in her world for conditioning her brain to be awed by this display. The knight dismounted, and pushed the face mask of the helmet up. Emma gasped. It was Gold. As in Mr. Gold. And he very clearly didn’t recognize her.

“Can I be of assistance?” he asked, and Emma very nearly laughed at how sincere he sounded. Her mind was putting the pieces together, and realizing that something was really off here. She needed to figure out what.

“Yeah,” she said, standing up from the stump, surreptitiously brushing dirt off her ass. “I’m looking for my family. We got … separated.”

“Happy to help,” he replied, and pulled his helmet off. His grey stringy hair somehow managed to look noble as it fell out of the golden helmet. It was like he was the same person, but his aura had changed and all of the things that made him smarmy and gross suddenly seemed like a good idea. It was incredibly unnerving. 

“Who are you looking for? And where did you get separated?”

“Errr…” Emma thought for a moment. “My son Henry and my …” what the fuck was Regina to her? “Friend Regina,” she finished lamely. “And they could be anywhere, really. I think we got separated by magic.”

He peered at her. “Magic, you say? Did you get on the wrong side of the Queen?”

Emma hesitated. “I don’t think so?” she said, now even less sure of herself. 

“Do you have something of theirs? A token perhaps?”

_ Token? Oh, for a locator spell. _ She should have thought of that. But didn’t Regina usually use some kind of potion? She felt in her pockets anyway. Lip balm, cell phone - not that that would help at all here - and a crumpled piece of paper. She pulled the paper out and looked at it. It was a shopping list Regina had written for her and Henry for a big family dinner they were planning this weekend. Emma smiled at it. She had really been looking forward to that. Henry was hopeless in the kitchen, so Regina usually put him in charge of shopping and decorating, and this time Emma had offered to help as well. 

She handed Gold the piece of paper. “Would this work? My friend wrote it for me.”

He took it, inspecting it as if it would tell him the answers to the questions about her he so clearly wanted to ask. “Possibly,” he answered. He waved his hand over the paper, which glowed for a moment, but didn’t rise into the air like she’d been expecting. He handed it back to her.

Emma narrowed her eyes. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“It will glow brighter when your loved one is near.” He leaned closer to her and whispered “But I would be careful not to say her name too loudly in these parts, dearie.”

And with that, he walked away from her, leading his horse towards the stable next to the tavern. Emma stared after him. Was he talking about Regina? Was Regina the Evil Queen? Was she back in time again? But no, Gold was never this Knight In Shining Armor, was he? She looked around her, noticing now that one of the employees from the tavern was standing outside the door keeping an eye on her. That was probably her cue to leave. She held the crumpled paper in front of her and sighed.

“Here goes nothing,” she said out loud.

She shrugged her jacket back on so she didn’t have to carry it and walked a few steps in one direction. The paper just sat there. She turned around and walked the other direction, and the paper did indeed start to glow.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Emma started to walk in that direction, which was clearly leading her back into the forest. But there was a path this time, so at least she couldn’t get too lost. It wasn’t until she’d been walking for a good ten minutes that she realized that Gold had referred to Regina as her loved one.

 

***

  
  


By the time Emma had gotten herself so far into the woods that all she could hear were birds and the occasional rustling of little animals in the underbrush, she had cooked up a half dozen theories about what was going on, each one less likely than the last. The paper was glowing consistently, so she kept walking, hoping that Regina was someplace close by, and that she wasn’t the Evil Queen with no memory of Emma or Henry. Also that she knew where Henry was, because Emma had no way to track him, even with Gold’s magic.

As she was musing on what to do next, her toe caught a root and she went sprawling on her face, cursing as pain erupted through her knee. She rubbed it, relieved that her trusty jeans had stayed in one piece, and took this opportunity to take stock.

What did she know? She was in the Enchanted Forest, clearly. Gold, at least, was here, but he had no memory of her and was kind of a different person. Regina was here somewhere, if Gold’s magic could be trusted. Emma herself had all her memories intact, and nothing new to help her in this world. And something had brought them here. The original curse that created Storybrooke had taken away people’s memories and made them different. So it stood to reason that there was a curse here that had done the same thing but in reverse. A reverse-curse. She laughed a little as she remembered living in Boston surrounded by rabid Red Sox fans who spray-painted “Reverse Curve” road signs to read “Reverse the Curse” before they’d won the world series in ‘05. Back then she never could have imagined that her life would involve literal curses just a few years later. Hmm, now that she thought about it, maybe the Red Sox were actually cursed.  _ Off-topic, Swan. Focus. _

She picked herself up off the ground and kept walking, her mind turning possibilities over despite her attempts to stop it. There had to be some way to either transport herself back to Storybrooke, or break this curse. What broke curses? True love’s kiss? 

She stopped dead as she heard a twig crunch in the unmistakable sound of someone creeping towards her. Her hands twitched as she crouched low and took a deep breath, praying she would remember how to conjure a fireball like Regina had taught her.

And then out from behind a bush emerged none other than Regina herself. Except she didn’t quite look like Regina. And she sure as hell didn’t look like the Evil Queen. She was wearing what Emma could only describe as an purely practical outfit, with leather boots laced over tight brown leggings, and carrying a bow and arrow slung across a tunic lined with fur. She looked a lot like pictures of Snow White from back in the day, actually.

Emma stood up. “Regina” she breathed, but immediately stopped as Regina drew an arrow and pointed it at her heart.

“Whoa, hey,” Emma said, putting her hands up. “I come in peace.”

“Who are you?” Regina spat, and Emma tried desperately to stop the grin at how familiar that tone of voice was. At least some things were still the same.

But before she could answer, they both turned at the sound of horses galloping towards them. 

“The Queen’s knights,” Regina whispered, and ran.


	3. Regina's Encounter

Regina opened her eyes and sighed. Another exciting day of hunting and gathering awaited her. She closed her eyes again, and wished for the thousandth time that when she opened them, she wouldn’t see the bleak interior of the little cave she’d carved out of a fallen log in the forest. At this point she didn’t even know what she would wish to see - just something else. Hiding from Queen Snow kept her alive, but that’s it. And she was sick of it. She needed something new. She needed someone new. Actually, the fact of the matter was that she needed someone, anyone, to talk to. She opened her eyes, groaning at the sight of dried moss hanging from the low ceiling staring back at her. She threw an arm over her face, fighting back tears. No more crying. She’d done enough of that yesterday. 

“Get up,” she said out loud, and the sound of her voice was startling enough to make her throw back the animal pelts she’d piled on in the cold last night, quickly grabbing her tunic and boots and pulling them on over her leggings and undershirt. She tied her long black hair back with a leather string, and stretched her arms up overhead, letting her fingers brush the underside of the log. Maybe something interesting would happen today.

 

***

 

Sometime later that morning, Regina gave up on a totally failed hunting trip. She was about to head back to her camp to rest before doing her daily water run when she heard someone walking parallel to her path through the woods. She held her breath and froze, tracking their progress. They hadn’t heard her. Or at least, they’d given no indication of noticing her presence, and had kept walking in the same direction. The woman, she could now hear from the voice, was muttering to herself, although Regina couldn’t make out the words.

Regina doubled back a bit and then found the woman’s trail, following at a safe distance. She sped up, looped around, and caught a flash of red. She looped again, and this time saw the woman’s profile. She was stunning, with long blonde hair tied loosely back out of her eyes, which were currently watching her feet as she crashed through the underbrush. She certainly wasn’t trying to be subtle. She was wearing an outfit Regina had never seen before, but instantly coveted. An open red tunic that was cropped at her waist and blueish leggings that seemed perfectly molded to what Regina couldn’t help but notice were incredibly powerful-looking legs. The overall picture was, well, breathtaking.

Regina stopped paying attention to what she was doing, and stepped on a brittle stick, the sound echoing around her. The woman stopped, and Regina cringed. Nothing for it now. She stepped out from the bushes and raised her bow in warning.

“Whoa, hey,” the woman said, her hands up in surrender. “I come in peace.”

Regina scrutinized her. Something was shining in her eyes - recognition? Suddenly Regina’s guard was up again. Perhaps this alluring stranger was in fact another trap from the Queen.

“Who are you?” she barked, putting on her most authoritative voice.

The woman looked about to answer, but at that moment, Regina heard hoofbeats in the distance - and getting nearer. The woman heard it, too, and looked at her in alarm. Regina made a split-second calculation that this woman looked more afraid than she was, and so warned her in a whisper: “The Queen’s knights.”

She ran off away from the hoofbeats, and, glancing over her shoulder, saw the woman pelting after her, almost overtaking her as they fled. Regina didn’t spare a thought for whether this was a good idea, but simply led them towards her network of traps, hoping the woman in red would follow her lead and not get snared by any of them before she could lead the knights into one. 

They were almost there, and Regina chanced another glance behind her. The knights were gaining on them, despite Regina’s attempts to lead them through terrain that was difficult for horses to navigate. She wanted them on foot for her traps to work. 

“They’re getting closer,” her mystery woman said, and Regina was surprised to hear that she was barely out of breath.

“This way,” she said, and turned to the right. The woman followed without a word. The hair on the back of Regina’s neck stood up, and she quite honestly couldn’t tell if it was the proximity to this beautiful stranger, or the fear of getting caught. For how many times she’d almost been caught by the Queen’s knights, it was probably the former. But she didn’t have time to think about that right now - they’d reached her first trip wire.

“Up here,” she hissed, swinging herself up the nearest tree. 

The stranger looked up warily, but then she looked behind her at the knights that were just coming over the ridge behind them and jumped up to the lowest branch, awkwardly swinging herself up as best she could. Regina had just reached a hand down to help her when an arrow narrowly missed the woman’s foot. She let out a screech and fell to the ground.

Regina was on the ground next to her before she had time to think whether this stranger was worth risking capture for. One thing she knew for sure - she was one of very few people the Queen preferred alive. Everyone else was killed on the spot, and she just couldn’t let that happen to this woman, whoever she was.

“Are you armed?” she asked hurriedly.

“Not exactly,” the woman said as she backed herself against the tree.

“Then get back up there, I’ll fight them off,” Regina said as she pulled an arrow out of her quiver, making sure the dagger on her hip was in place as she lifted her hand to draw the bow.

But the woman didn’t go anywhere. Instead, she closed her eyes. Regina stared at her for half a second, and then turned back to the knights. She may have just risked capture for a mad woman, but at this point she was going to have to fight her way out of it whether she liked it or not.

But then a light caught her eye, and she saw the woman standing there with a fireball hovering over her outstretched palm. 

_ Magic _ , Regina thought derisively. But she shook her head. At this moment, she would take what she would get.

The ensuing fight was a blur of swords coming at her, flames flying through the air, yells and shouts as Regina herself tripped the wire and then ducked to get out of the way of the falling bludgeon that took out two of the six attackers. She hit two more with arrows to the legs, and they limped away, presumably back to wherever they had left their horses. That left two more, and she realized that she and the woman had instinctively turned back to back as the knights circled closer. Regina pushed her back against the woman’s in a way she hoped would get her attention. And then, just before the knight closest to her was in range of her bow, she wrenched her back away, trying to silently communicate “now!”. It worked. They both attacked, and Regina managed to herd the knights together. The woman tossed a burst of magic their way that left both of them unconscious. They were free.

Regina turned to this remarkable stranger, who took a ragged breath and immediately collapsed to the ground. Regina caught her as she fell, managing to set her head down gently. As she pulled her hands back, they came away covered in the strangers blood.

“No,” Regina whispered out loud. She pulled back the red tunic and grey cloth underneath, finding a gash in the woman’s side. Regina bent to inspect it. It didn’t look too deep, but it needed to be treated fast, or risk infection. She had what she needed in her camp.

Regina hesitated. She had learned to be wary of anyone and anything unknown in her precarious life in the forest. When the Queen wanted you, and would do anything to bring you in, you learned quickly that most things that seemed too good to be true, were, in fact, exactly that. But this? This woman had seemed to trust her immediately, and everything else about what had happened made it seem that she was just as much of a target as Regina herself. Which, now that she thought about it, made it potentially a terrible idea to band together.

On the other hand, there was something about her. Something that Regina couldn’t put her finger on, but tugged at her heart in strange ways that she truly didn’t understand. She sighed, glancing around to see how far she was from her camp. She could probably carry the woman there, although with her bleeding like that, that wasn’t the best idea.

“Don’t go anywhere,” she said, and then shook her head at herself. The woman was unconscious. Of course she wasn’t going anywhere.

 

Regina went to her camp for bandages, water, and healing herbs. Thankfully, she found both the mysterious woman and the two unconscious knights exactly where she left them. She cleaned and bandaged the woman’s wound, marvelling that she didn’t wake up at all, and then hoisted her up onto her back and headed towards her camp.

It wasn’t home, and she never thought of it that way. It was camp - a place that was relatively safe and served her needs in the moment. Never mind that she’d been living there for 3 years. Roughly. She’d lost track of the days a long time ago. When she arrived, she gently laid the woman down onto a pile of furs, easing her out of the red tunic and pulling off her boots so she’d be more comfortable. 

And then she sat down to wait.


	4. Awake

Emma was floating. Or, not floating, but drifting through the air. And then suddenly she was on the ground, and sinking through the ground, and swallowed up by the ground. She panicked, writhing her legs to try to get traction. Something cool brushed against her head, and while it should have made things worse, it was strangely comforting. The ground became soft, holding her like a hug. She relaxed.

 

***

Sunlight streamed in from someplace and hit her face. She tried to blink her eyes open once, twice, three times, before giving up. That cool presence appeared on her forehead again, and she sighed. The ground was soft and warm beneath her, and why should she try to wake up when she was so comfortable? She blinked her eyes open one more time, catching a glimpse of a woman with dark hair bending over her. Emma let herself drift back off, soothed by the fact that someone was there with her.

 

***

Emma woke up. She could tell she was awake because her mind registered distinct smells: something earthy and vaguely familiar mixed with the unmistakable odor of meat being cooked over a fire. The sounds matched the scents - a crackling of burning wood, the rustle of someone moving around, and the faint sound of birds. She was outside, but it was warm and dry. And then suddenly it all came back to her - her arrival in the Enchanted Forest, meeting Regina in the woods, the fight with six of the Queen’s Knights. And the hideous pain that had torn through her body when a sword caught her side. Emma had no idea why she wasn’t dead.

She twisted her torso a little, and her eyes flew open as a similar pain ripped through her body. She gasped, her hands flying to the spot on her side. It was tightly bandaged, but still throbbing. She heard the other person near her rush over, and looked up.

“You’re awake!”

It was Regina. But not Regina. Or maybe Regina. Emma still didn’t know what was happening, except that Regina hadn’t recognized her when they met in the woods.

“Barely,” she rasped, and winced at her incredibly parched throat.

“Here,” Regina said, and turned to pass her a water skin. 

Emma took it gingerly, trying not to move her arms too much. She raised her head a couple of inches, gulped down half of it, and settled back onto what she now realized were soft furs and animal skins. Regina reached out a hand and put it on her forehead. Emma held her breath.

“Seems like your fever finally broke,” Regina said. “How do you feel?”

Emma didn’t know how to answer that. Confused? Worried? In so much pain? She settled for, “OK, I guess.” She shifted again and pain shot through her side. She groaned. “Until I move, that is.”

Regina bent to inspect the dressed wound. “I should change that soon,” she said. “But I think the infection is gone. Now it just needs to heal. Are you hungry?”

She stood up and moved out of Emma’s line of vision. She heard a pot rattle, and then Regina returned with a little dish of the most delicious smelling stew. Emma licked her lips as the scent of it made her mouth water. 

Regina laughed a little. “I’ll take that look as a yes.” 

She put the dish down and bent to help Emma sit up. The pain was awful while she was moving, but as soon as she was sitting up and leaning on the wall of what she could now see was some kind of cave, it settled down and she could breath more easily. Regina passed her the dish and a spoon and went to sit across from her.

“Thank you,” Emma said shyly, suddenly keenly aware that Regina had been taking care of her for who knows how long, and had probably saved her life.

“No problem,” Regina replied. “About time you ate something. I was starting to get worried I’d have to force feed you.”

Emma slurped some broth, telling herself to eat slowly, no matter how much her stomach rumbled and how incredibly good the stew tasted.

“How long was I out?’ she asked.

“About a day and a half.”

“Seriously? Jesus.” Emma looked down at her stew. “Thank you for taking care of me,” she said quietly.

“You’re welcome.”

They sat in silence. Emma felt Regina’s eyes on her, but she had very little attention to spare now that she was eating. When she’d had enough to feel human again, she looked back up to find that Regina was still gazing at her with an expression she’d never seen on her face before. It was a little like the look she gave Henry when he’d done something she was proud of, but with this air of curiosity mixed in that made Emma feel intensely self-conscious.

“What’s your name?” Regina asked.

Emma gulped. She’d been half hoping Regina was just messing with her and was going to break and tell her she knew what was going on and how they could get home. No such luck, it seemed. 

“Emma,” she answered reluctantly.

Regina nodded at her. “Regina,” she said.

“Um, where are we?”

“My camp,” Regina responded, stretching her legs out. “I brought you back here after our little skirmish.”

OK…. that didn’t really tell Emma anything. She desperately wanted to just ask Regina what was going on, but something told her to be cautious. She was pretty much at her mercy at this moment, and she didn’t want to scare her off.

“So, what happened back there? Why did the knights attack?”

Regina narrowed her eyes. “Do you really not know who I am?” she asked.

Emma looked down. There was no way to answer that, so she just took a bite of stew.

Regina sighed. “The Queen is after me,” she said, as if that explained everything.

“Why?” Emma asked.

“She blames me for ruining her life.”

A sinking feeling filled the pit of Emma’s stomach, and she put down her stew. “And did you?” she asked, fully aware that she was quoting her father from a scene in Henry’s book.

“Yes,” Regina answered, looking down. “And now she sends her knights to find me every chance she gets.”

“Queen … Snow?” Emma asked, praying she would be wrong but knowing she wasn’t.

Regina eyed her. “Where are you from?” she asked, and Emma couldn’t help but laugh at how horribly upside-down this whole situation was. But laughing hurt her side, and Regina hurried over as she winced. 

“Never mind,” she said, moving the dish so she could lie Emma back down. “I really should change your bandages again.”

Emma watched as Regina bustled around her. Her hands were gentle, though the skin on her fingers was rough and calloused, as if, well as if she’d been living in the forest for years. It was entirely disconcerting how comforting her touch was, even as the pain started to throb again. Emma tried to distract herself from the pain by thinking about whether Regina’s hands felt like that back in Storybrooke. But she couldn’t remember ever touching her hands, or having them touch her. The two of them hugged hello and goodbye of course, but it was always a polite squeeze, and generally over coats. Even during their magic lessons, Regina didn’t touch her much.

“There,” the Regina right in front of her said. “You should sleep some more. Your wound is looking much better, but I’d like to see it close up a little more before I let you out of bed.”

Emma smiled up at her, suddenly intensely tired, as if the word “sleep” had been a command. She nodded.

“Thank you, Regina.”

Regina smiled. “You’re welcome, Emma.” 

 

***

Emma woke up with a start some time later, and then gasped as her sudden movement sent shooting pains through her side. She blinked into the darkness, which was thick around her, making her feel closed in.  _ You’re OK _ , she thought, trying to stem the rising panic.  _ You’re safe. Regina’s right next to you. _

She looked to her left, where Regina had set up a pile of furs for herself, since evidently she had put Emma in her usual sleeping place. That thought made Emma relax just enough to get control of her breathing - she wasn’t alone. Again, she marveled at how much had changed in the last four years. There was a time when waking up to another person lying next to her had sent her into a panic, and now it was exactly the opposite.

She looked at Regina, huddled under her furs. Whatever had happened to them had turned things upside-down. Gold was some kind of do-gooder white knight, and it looked like Regina and Snow had switched places. But it wasn’t like Regina was just living out Snow’s life - she was still Regina. That tone of voice when she’d first seen her told Emma it was definitely Regina. But she was … softer, somehow. Like instead of anger at everything that had happened to her, she’d chosen sadness, and coping with that looked a lot different. Emma knew something about coping with sadness, and anger, for that matter. It’s part of why she and Regina understood each other, even if they hardly ever seemed to agree on anything. This Regina reminded her a lot of herself, and Emma didn’t know what to do with that at all.

Her side had stopped hurting after lying still for a few minutes. Emma shifted her head around so she could still see Regina. It was soothing to watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she slept, and Emma slowly drifted back into a quiet sleep as well


	5. Who Are You Really?

Regina hadn’t slept at all that first night when the stranger - Emma - was still unconscious. She was too afraid that something terrible would happen and she wouldn’t be awake to help. So when Emma finally woke up and ate something, Regina finally allowed herself to get some sleep. But of course, as is the way of things, her mind was racing as she lay down in the waning twilight, her body bone-tired but unable to relax enough to drift off. She wasn’t sure what it was about Emma that had her so fascinated, but there was something about her that made Regina feel like she’d known her for years. Which was crazy, since they’d said a grand total of about 15 words to each other since the moment she found her wandering around in the woods. And Regina still didn’t know what she was doing out here, so the sensible thing would be to stay cautious until she had more information.

And yet… the morning they’d met, Regina had wished so hard that she didn’t have to be alone. And then this stranger literally crossed her path, and now here she was, not alone in her camp for the first time in who knows how long. Regina was a practical woman, and not one for superstitious nonsense. But the timing was hard to ignore.

Emma shifted in her sleep and whimpered a little. Regina propped herself up on her elbow and watched for a moment, but whatever had happened seemed to have passed, and Emma stayed quiet. Regina lay back down again, shaking her head at herself. Go to sleep, she thought decisively. Her brain did not comply. She laid awake for a good hour longer before the exhaustion finally took over.

 

***

  
After two more days, Regina declared Emma healthy enough to get up. She might have insisted on another day of rest, but Emma was starting to whine and complain like a child, and Regina figured it wasn’t worth her own sanity to keep her contained any longer. To Emma’s credit, she took it slow and pretty much just spent the day sitting outside the cave instead of inside. She was doing a lot better, though, and eating well, so Regina was satisfied. It felt good, taking care of someone like this.

It didn’t take long for comments about Emma’s health and the weather to run dry, and Regina was faced with the conundrum of how much to tell Emma, and what to ask her about herself. She tried to suss out whether Emma’s bizarre ignorance of certain things was an act, or whether she was truly not from around here, and therefore not familiar with what was going on in the kingdom. She wanted to trust her, she really did. The problem was that despite seeming to not know a lot, every now and then Emma would mention something that she shouldn’t have known at all, and that made Regina have a lot of questions.

Apparently Emma had questions, too. Regina had just returned from her water run to find Emma about 50 feet from camp, already looking lost. Regina tried not to laugh as she pointed her back to the rough path she maintained just enough to be visible but not too obvious. She showed Emma how to walk just to the side of it, and made sure she understood to switch sides and then walk in the middle each time to keep it from getting too clear.

“How did you learn to do all of this?” Emma asked as they got back in sight of camp. “Didn’t you grow up in the palace?”

Regina glanced at her, trying not to let suspicion creep into her gaze. Emma claimed she didn’t know who Regina was at first, and yet seemed to know details about her life. None of it added up, so she tread carefully.

“I learned some as a child, but most of it I picked up out of necessity out here,” she said, carefully schooling her tone to sound casual.

“I get that,” Emma said as she lowered herself gingerly onto the pallet Regina had set up for her outside. 

Regina handed her a water skin. “What do you mean?”

“I had to fend for myself from a pretty young age. I learned a lot of weird stuff to help me get by, too.”

“What happened to your parents?”

Emma hesitated.

“I’m sorry,” Regina said quickly, “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s OK. It’s just a long story.” Emma sighed. “The short version is they gave me up when I was a baby, but I got back in touch with them a few years ago as an adult. So I’m kind of like an orphan, who stopped being an orphan.” 

Regina nodded as if she understood. She didn’t, but she did understand the obvious attempt to turn pain into a light-hearted story.

“What are they like, your parents? Now that you know them.” Regina asked, hoping that wasn’t too personal.

“They’re … well, they’re the most optimistic people I’ve ever met.” Emma waited a beat and then added, “It’s sickening sometimes, to be honest.”

Regina laughed. “That’s terrible.”   
“No it’s not!” Emma was laughing, too. “Trust me, you’d find it as frustrating as I do.”

“Oh really?” Regina teased. “You know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t like your parents?”

Emma stopped laughing. “No,” she said quietly. “No, I guess I don’t.”

Regina eyed her, confused by the abrupt shift in tone. She opted for changing the subject instead of trying to find out what happened, though. “Tell me about this red tunic you’re wearing. Is that the fashion where you’re from?”

Just like that, Emma’s laughter was back, and it was contagious. 

 

***

They got into a kind of rhythm after that. Regina taught Emma to skin and prepare the meat she hunted - laughing at her hopeless first attempts of course - and Emma gradually took over the cooking and food storage duties. Regina went out to hunt, buy supplies from her various contacts, and get water every day, and otherwise she just hung around camp, chatting with Emma about nothing and occasionally talking about their lives. Mostly, though, they teased each other, and Regina absolutely loved it. She hadn’t laughed this much in years, and Emma seemed to warm under her attention, even attention that was all about how bad she was at basic survival skills. Emma talked a good game about having taken care of herself for decades, but Regina was 100% sure she would starve if she was left to her own devices in the forest. Or die from eating something poisonous. For her part, Emma complained about Regina being bossy, and when Regina feigned annoyance, Emma teased her about that. The twinkle in her eyes let Regina know that Emma was having as much fun with this as she was, so she kept it up.

 

One rainy afternoon, Regina was sitting huddled in her cloak at the edge of the cave, trying to muster the energy to go on a water run. Emma had been napping, which she still did almost every day as her strength returned to her little by little. Regina had just turned to check the water skins, wondering if maybe she could put it off until it wasn’t raining so hard, when Emma started to cry out in her sleep. 

Regina ducked out of her cloak and crept over to her.

“Emma?” she said gently.

Emma cried out again, this time twitching her body in a way that Regina was afraid would hurt her.

“Emma,” she called firmly, shaking her shoulder a little.

Emma’s eyes flew open and she gasped, hunching away from Regina for two seconds before apparently recognizing her.

“Regina,” she whispered, sitting up quickly. 

“Are you OK?”

Emma pulled the furs closer around her. She was shivering, and clearly fighting to calm down.

“Yeah,” she said in a shaky voice. “Yeah. Just a nightmare.”

Regina sat down on her own bed pallet, across from Emma’s. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

Emma thought about it for a moment before taking a deep breath. “I actually do,” she said. “Hand me some water?”

Regina passed the skin over, noting that she would actually have to brave the rain, given that it was only about a third full. Emma drank deeply before passing the skin back to Regina to drink from as well. Not for the first time, Regina felt a little flutter as her lips wrapped around the place where Emma’s had been just moments before. She ignored it, and waited for Emma to begin.

“I don’t need to go into all the details,” Emma said, “but the point was that my family was trapped, and I was the only one who could save them, but I couldn’t figure out how to get them out. And everything I did just made it worse.”

“Your family,” Regina said. “Your parents?”

Emma nodded. “And my son.”

Regina blinked at her. “You have a son?”

“Henry. He’s 13.”

“Your son’s name is Henry?”

Emma bit her lip as she nodded again. “It’s a family name.”

“My father’s name was Henry,” Regina said quietly.

Emma’s silence told Regina that somehow Emma already knew this. Add this to the list of bizarre details she possessed. But right now a more pressing question emerged.

“Where is your family now?”

Emma hesitated. “That’s the thing. They are kind of trapped. I think. I don’t actually know what happened to them.”

Regina’s heart sank. “I’m so sorry, Emma. I had no idea.”

“That’s why I was wandering around the forest when we ran into each other. I was looking for them.”

“Do you know where your parents are being held?”

“I … not really.”

There was clearly more to the story, but Emma left it at that and Regina didn’t push it.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Besides save my life and teach me how to survive here, you mean?” Emma chuckled, but it wasn’t really a happy sound. “I don’t know yet. I’ve been trying to think of something, but I honestly don’t know what to do.”

She looked down, and Regina saw there were tears in the corners of her eyes. Without thinking twice, she got up and sat herself next to this woman, this total stranger who might still be a spy but who Regina felt herself inexplicably drawn to, and wrapped her arms around her, cradling her head on her shoulder. She heard Emma’s sharp intake of breath before her hands slipped around Regina’s back, holding on tight. Regina turned her face just an inch towards her, inhaling the scent of wood smoke trapped in the thick blonde hair that was tickling her cheeks. They both took a breath, easing into the embrace on the exhale. Regina took a chance, and reached up to smooth Emma’s loose hair gently with her palm. When Emma responded by turning her head and nuzzling into her neck, Regina couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. She hadn’t known how much she needed this opportunity to care for someone else until she was right there in front of her, needing comfort as much as healing herbs and hot soup. It was like a piece of her heart that had been jostled out of place years ago finally slipped back where it belonged, and she felt whole.

Emma eventually unclasped her arms and sat back, drying her eyes on her sleeve.

“Thanks,” she whispered. “I guess I needed that.”

Regina nodded, hearing her mind supply her with variations on  _ I would do anything to stay wrapped up in your arms like that _ , and deciding that silence was definitely the only thing she could trust herself with at the moment. But eventually, she realized that Emma was waiting for her to make the next move. She sighed.

“Well, if you want to talk it through any more, I’m happy to listen. For now, though, I think I’d better get down to the creek for water before it gets dark. Only thing worse than a water run in the rain is a water run in the rain in the dark.”

  
  


In fact, Regina barely noticed the rain. She was so focused on her thoughts that the world around her faded into irrelevance. She went over the details of the encounter in her mind, trying to memorize everything: the feel of Emma’s hair under her palm, the weight of her hands clasped around Regina’s back, the sound of her breath from three inches away. She did think about what might have happened to Emma, as well. Perhaps Queen Snow had captured Emma’s family as they were travelling. Maybe one of them had gotten on the wrong side of the law, and had fled their land. Maybe Emma was lying about all of it.

She was so caught up in her inner monologue that it took a few minutes for her mind to register what she was seeing as she walked back into camp. Emma stood there in the rain, a pile of logs in front of her. She opened her palm, and a ball of fire sprang to life. Regina felt a tingling in her belly that she couldn’t place. She stopped walking and watched as Emma twitched her hand, and the logs immediately caught fire, burning merrily despite the rain.  _ Right. Magic.  _ Somehow in everything they’d been through Regina had completely forgotten that Emma had fought her way out of the scuffle with the Queen’s knights with magic. And that was suspicious in and of itself. Very few regular people wielded magic in the Enchanted Forest. Those that did usually gathered power around themselves along with it.

She walked up, and when Emma smiled broadly at her, she nearly dropped the water skins she was carrying. Regina rolled her eyes internally at herself. Clearly she was smitten with this woman, but really? Going all weak in the knees over a smile? Pathetic.

Regina dumped the water skins inside and went back out to stand by the fire.

“Thanks for getting water all the time, Regina,” said Emma from across the fire.

Regina cursed her body for shivering at the sound of her name from Emma’s lips.

“So you can do magic,” she said, pivoting the conversation into more important territory.

Emma blushed. “Yeah, I can,” she said. 

They passed a beat in silence while Regina figured out how to word her response.

“Not a lot of people can do magic,” she said carefully. “And most of them don’t wander around the woods by themselves without some ulterior motive.”

Emma sighed. “Let’s sit down,” she said.

They pulled the pile of furs close to the edge of the cave, where they could be out of the rain but close to the fire. Regina was keenly aware of the scant inches that separated her hand from Emma’s thigh as she leaned her weight back and stretched out her legs.

“If I tell you the whole story of what happened to me, you’re going to think I’m crazy,” Emma said eventually.

“Too late, already do,” Regina quipped.

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” Emma deadpanned.

“Indeed I do.”

They both laughed at that, easing some of the tension that had built up over what Regina now understood was going to be a kind of moment of truth.

“It’s a really long story,” Emma said, staring out at the fire.

“I have nowhere else to be.”

Emma looked at her, contemplating, before she seemed to come to a decision.

“Alright. Here goes.”

 

It took more than an hour for Emma to get through the whole story, with Regina interrupting with questions when she lost track of who Mary Margaret was, or which memories of Emma’s were “real” and which memories another version of herself had given her. It was so unbelievable that Regina felt like she had no choice but to believe it. Emma clearly believed it, and even though Regina knew that didn’t necessarily make it true, she couldn’t discount the fact that Emma had chosen to tell her all of this when she really didn’t need to. 

As Emma finished talking, Regina searched for something to say, and came up empty. She stared out at the twilight and felt the silence between them deepen. It wasn’t uncomfortable, for all that it was profound. She turned the information over and over in her head until her thoughts were reeling.

“I need to sleep on this,” she said abruptly.

Emma jumped like she’d forgotten Regina was sitting next to her. 

“Of course,” Emma mumbled. “Do whatever you need to do. I know that was a lot.”

Regina reached out to brush a hand over Emma’s shoulder. “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said quietly, and stood up to get ready for bed.


	6. Just Ignore It

Emma was honestly shocked when Regina was still there in the morning after she told her the whole story. Although, she supposed this was Regina’s home, so it wasn’t like she was just going to run off in the middle of the night. Oh God, unless she was waiting for Emma to do just that? Had Emma overstayed her welcome? Had she made a huge mistake confiding in her? She didn’t know why she did it. It was stupid, really. She’d started to work out that maybe this wasn’t so much a curse as some alternate reality that the Author and Gold had created. After all, it seemed like Gold was the hero of this story, so maybe they’d all gotten trapped inside his happy ending or something. Which meant that Emma had even less of an idea of how to get home. And that despair had made her reach out to the person who always seemed to know what to do next - Regina. Even here, even not knowing who she really was, Regina was the one to keep them fed and warm and safe. Regina was the one who had quite literally saved Emma’s life. So despite it not being the Regina she knew, Emma had decided to trust her. But what if that was the wrong move?

As her mind spiraled through thoughts of what the hell she would do if Regina told her to leave, she heard the woman in question get up and creep out of the cave. Emma nearly hyperventilated in the few minutes she was gone, and when Regina returned, Emma decided it was time to face the music.

“Good morning,” Regina said with a smile that went all the way to her eyes.

“Morning,” Emma replied, holding her breath.

“You hungry? We’re running a little low on food since my supplier got caught in that rain storm, but there’s some leftover stew and some berries.”

“Thanks,” said Emma, and took the basket of berries to pick at. 

“Emma,” Regina started, and God, Emma was just not ready to hear her verdict yet, but here it was.

“If everything you said is true,” Regina continued. “That means that Henry, your son, well, he’s my son too, isn’t he?”

Emma looked at her, not daring to do more than nod her head.

“And he would have been named after my father?”

Again, Emma nodded.

“And he’s missing.”

Emma put the basket down, leaning towards Regina eagerly. This sounded promising, and she couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Please help me find him,” she whispered.

This time Regina nodded. 

Emma grabbed her hand, ignoring the startled look on Regina’s face at this sudden show of affection. “Thank you,” she said, squeezing her hand tighter than she probably should have. “Thank you for believing me.”

“It still sounds pretty unbelievable,” Regina said in response.

“I know. But all I need is for you to believe it enough to help me. And you do. Right?”

“Yes, Emma, I do.”

“OK then!” Emma shoved the furs off her lap, ready to get going on finding their son.

Regina chuckled at her. “So eager, Miss Swan.”

Emma froze. That nickname! Why had she called her that? Her mind ricocheted from one possibility to the next; had Regina been messing with her the whole time? Did Emma mention that she used to call her that? Did this Regina just decide to call her that too?

“What?” Regina asked. “What just happened to you?”

“You called me Miss Swan.” Emma said, swallowing hard.

Regina looked confused. “I’m sorry, I was just teasing. Do you not like to be called that?”

“No I -” Emma searched for the words. “You always used to call me that before we became friends. And now it’s kind of a joke between us when you do. And I just… you sound like you. I’m not making any sense.”

“Not much sense, no,” Regina said, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. “But then again nothing you’ve said to me in the last 24 hours could be classified as ‘making sense.’”

Emma smiled weakly. 

“So just Emma, then?” Regina asked. “Too bad. I kind of like Miss Swan.”

Emma’s smile got bigger. “I do, too, actually. But don’t tell the other Regina.”

“Aren’t I the other Regina, just without her memories?”

Emma opened her mouth to reply, decided she didn’t know what to say, and closed her mouth again. Regina laughed heartily. 

“Come on, Miss Swan,” she said, “Let’s figure out a plan.”

 

***

After a couple hours of talking and arguing about what to do (because even without her memories Regina was bossy as hell), they decided to start by gathering intel. Emma finally realized that instead of approaching this like a magical problem, which she felt completely unable to deal with, she should think of it like a bail bonds problem - how do you find people who don’t think they’re lost? Gathering information was definitely the first step. They needed to find out if anyone had seen Henry, and where everyone else was. Was it just her family that was trapped here? How about the rest of Storybrooke? And what about Isaac, the Author? If he was here, that would definitely be a good place to start.

So they made a plan for Emma to go into town and start poking around, dressed in clothes Regina could borrow from one of her contacts so she wouldn’t stand out. Everyone knew Regina, so she would stay hidden for now. Regina would drop a note to her contact that day, and Emma should be set up to go the next. 

When Regina left on her errand, Emma lay down to try to sleep. The wound on her side was nearly healed, but she was just so tired all of the time. Given how foggy she’d been when she’d first woken up, she was starting to wonder if maybe she had a concussion. And it wasn’t like she really had anything to do besides take a nap. But with Regina gone, the silence around her started to feel suffocating.  _ Oh come on, Swan _ , she thought.  _ You can’t sleep because Regina’s not here? Don’t be stupid. _

She rolled over and tried to will herself to sleep. Obviously it didn’t work. She opened her eyes and glanced around the cave. Regina’s pallet was directly across from hers, and her furs looked much cozier than the ones Emma had. So Emma got up and swapped them out. She settled down as soon as she closed her eyes, the warmth and softness of the furs calming her racing mind. And no, it definitely was not because they smelled like Regina.

  
  


***

Emma made Regina leave the cave while she changed into the dress that she had brought back from her contact in town. Emma was ready to refuse to put it on at all, given how insanely uncomfortable it looked, but Regina insisted that she’d stand out less dressed like this than in leggings. So Emma struggled her way into the gigantic skirt, and got herself as far into the bodice as she could without help. It really didn’t seem right, though, and eventually she called outside for Regina’s help.

Regina took one look at her and burst out laughing. Like, doubled over, barely breathing burst out laughing. Emma turned bright red and stood there awkwardly while Regina caught her breath and stood back up. 

“You have it on upside down and backwards,” Regina said, barely containing her enjoyment of Emma’s situation.

“Well, it’s complicated!” Emma complained. “I’ve never had to wear this crap before.”

Regina’s laughter faded and her face became curious. “Never?”

“No! Women get to wear pants where I’m from. And even some of the stupid dresses I wore for work didn’t have so many freaking pieces to them.”

Emma wriggled out of the bodice, flinging it to the side and staring at it like it was about to attack her. It wasn’t until she caught Regina looking away from her that she realized this left her standing in her bra. Well, Regina had probably seen it before, given that she’d bandaged her side up. Emma picked up the bodice, though, and tried again with it facing the right direction.

“Here, let me help you.” The laughter was gone from Regina’s voice, replaced with a softness that made Emma extremely glad she was facing away from her so Regina couldn’t see her blush. Emma wondered if her Regina was this caring and sweet with Henry. She’d certainly never seen this side of her, but somehow it also didn’t completely surprise her. So much so that Emma realized she hadn’t been thinking of this as a completely different person, but more like a version of Regina if her life had gone differently. 

She was jarred out of her thoughts by a sharp pain in her side. She gasped, her hands flying to her ribs.

“I’m sorry!” Regina cried, and loosened the ties on the bodice. “I forgot. Your ribs are probably still bruised.”

Emma just kept breathing through the pain for a second. She put a hand out onto the wall to steady herself. She felt Regina place a hand gently on the place that hurt, and inexplicably, the pain faded. Emma took a deep breath and nodded, standing back up.

“It’s OK,” she said quietly. Regina’s hand was still there, and Emma covered it with her own hand for a moment without thinking. When Regina brushed at her hand with her thumb, though, Emma immediately snatched it away and turned around.

“Uh, thanks,” she mumbled, looking for any excuse to run away. “I’m going to, uh, put my boots back on.”

She grabbed her boots and hurried outside to go sit on a log to lace them up. What was that? And why did she react so strongly to it? 

Regina came out a minute later, and thankfully, she seemed to be ignoring whatever it was as well. “You ready?” she asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” said Emma.

Regina handed her the bag she’d packed. “Now remember, don’t let anyone follow you back. Loop around a few times. You’re sure you remember how to find the markers we placed?”

Emma rolled her eyes, but knew that Regina understood that meant yes. And she really hoped she meant it.

“Good.” Regina hesitated for a moment. “Emma -” she said, and then seemed to think better of whatever she was going to say. “Be careful,” she finished.

“I will.”

 

It turned out getting information out of people was ridiculously easy when you were in a busy tavern wearing a dress that acted like a push-up bra. Emma was an expert in wheedling information out of drunk men, and she walked away hearing about a dozen Storybrooke residents who were apparently leading perfectly normal, but also entirely different, lives here in this alternate universe. No news on Henry, though, which worried her. If Henry was here, he’d surely be looking for them. Unless he didn’t have his memories either? But that seemed unlikely. Henry was born in the real world, and hadn’t been affected by any of the curses that had rolled through Storybrooke. So where was he?

As she prepared to head back, Emma decided to relieve one particularly lewd man of his purse, and used the gold she found in it to buy some supplies for Regina. Mostly food, but some wool blankets and a new pair of shoes that she hoped would fit her as well. It was the least she could do to say thank you for saving her life. They weren’t really gifts, Emma told herself, they were more like rent for room and board. Because for some reason the idea of buying Regina gifts made her heart flutter, and she didn’t know what to do with that. 

It was late in the day when Emma had finished up with everything, and she was starting to get worried about finding her way back before it got dark. She hurried down the path that led into the forest, but stopped dead in her tracks at the figure that was walking towards her. It was Hook. He barely glanced at her as he walked past, talking and laughing with the group of men he was with. Emma swallowed, watching them nervously. One of them looked back at her, or rather leered back at her, and she hurried to turn away and keep walking. Her pulse was racing. After getting the news about everyone’s memories being gone, she shouldn’t have expected anything different, but still, it was beyond weird to have the man you were dating walk past as if you didn’t exist. Which, in this realm, she effectively didn’t to him. She’d walked for about 10 minutes before she remembered she was supposed to be paying better attention to the path she was taking, and whether she was being followed. So she shook her head, focusing back on Regina and keeping her hideout safe, and pushed everything else out of her head for the moment.

She got her bearings in the woods, and found the first marker. She let herself have a quick little celebration at not getting lost in the first 50 feet, and then concentrated on remembering where she was supposed to go next. She doubled back, turned left onto a well-worn path, then right off of it, and voila! The second marker. Nobody else was around, even when she stopped to listen for footsteps. 

Emma was feeling pretty proud of herself by the time she got to the third marker, but that’s where things went wrong. She turned left, and then suddenly nothing looked familiar. She thought back, and wondered if it was supposed to be right. She tried to backtrack, but couldn’t find her way. Pretty soon she was panicking, as nothing looked familiar, and she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten where she was. The sun was going down, and it was going to get harder and harder to make her way in the dark. So she gave in, closed her eyes, and concentrated hard on where she wanted to go.

She arrived at Regina’s camp in a swirl of magic, next to Regina herself, who jumped and then wasted no time yelling at her.

“Emma! We agreed no magic!”

“I got lost,” she said sheepishly.

Regina sighed, much louder than Emma thought was strictly necessary.

“Of course you did.”

“I made it to the third marker! And nobody followed me. So it’s fine. It’s not like I just poofed out of the middle of the town square.”

“Poofed?” Regina raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips.

“That’s what me and Henry always call it,” Emma replied. “You hate it in my world, too.”

“What’s wrong with something a little less silly, like, I don’t know, ‘disappear’? Or ‘transport’?” Regina said as she led Emma back towards the fire she had going.

“It’s descriptive,” Emma shrugged. “Here, I got you some things in town.”

She handed Regina the bag and walked away, just barely stopping herself from using magic to rid herself of this stupid and now very muddy skirt. She got herself out of the skirt no problem, but couldn’t reach the strings behind her to untie to bodice. She pulled on her jeans, which at this point had seen better days, before calling Regina to help her get out of the rest of the outfit.

“How are you supposed to get yourself out of these things?” she complained as Regina patiently undid the tight knots.

“You’re not,” Regina replied.

“Well that’s stupid.”

Regina laughed. “Yes, it is. Hence why I gave up anything like it when I was exiled to the forest. You have to have a buddy to wear a dress.”

“Or a lover,” Emma said. Shit. Why did she say that? She heard Regina’s sharp intake of breath, and she felt her own breathing stall out.  _ What the hell, Swan, _ she thought.  _ Why would you say something like that? _

“Yes, or a lover,” Regina said slowly. But then she switched back to their usual banter, and Emma relaxed. “Although I never once had a man who could get me back into my dress without significant coaching. They all seemed to learn how to get them off, but not how to put them back on.”

Emma chuckled at this, forcibly ignoring the vivid picture her mind supplied of Regina lacing herself back into a dress after sex. 

“At least they got you out of it,” Emma said. “Half the guys I’ve been with would’ve just left me in it and called it good.”

“That’s depressing.”

“What, all of your lovers have been perfect gentlemen?”

“I wouldn’t say that, no,” said Regina carefully.

Half a moment too late, Emma wondered what exactly she’d just asked, and what exactly Regina had just answered. She decided to drop it, as Regina had finally gotten her free of the bodice.

“Thanks,” Emma mumbled, and shuffled off to get her shirt and sweater back on.

When she went back outside, Regina was preparing dinner with some of the veggies Emma had brought back from town. Regina smiled at her, but there was something uncertain in her eyes as well.

“Where did all of this come from?” she asked.

“I stole a guy’s purse and bought some things,” Emma said casually, grabbing a piece of carrot to munch on. 

“You’re a thief now?” Regina asked, but she sounded more amused than upset.

“I’ve always been a thief,” Emma replied with a wink.

Regina looked down. 

“Did you try the shoes on?” Emma asked.

“Those are for me?”

“Of course they are!”

“Oh,” said Regina. She handed Emma the spoon, instructed her to keep stirring the vegetables, and went over to the shoes sitting on the ground next to the cave. She sat down and tugged her old ratty boots off, slipping the new, sturdier ones on. They fit perfectly.

“How in the world did you know these would fit me?” she asked, walking in experimental circles to see how they fit.

Emma shrugged. “Lucky guess.”

Regina stopped right in front of her, holding her gaze for an uncomfortable amount of time. “Thank you,” she said finally. “I … don’t know what to say.”

Emma smiled shyly. “Are you kidding? You literally saved my life. The least I can do is steal you a decent pair of shoes.”

“I thought you said you stole the money.”

“Details, details…”

Before Emma knew what was happening, Regina bent forward and kissed her on the cheek. She darted away a second later, and Emma was left feeling her face get hot, and not from the fire she was standing over.

 

***

Emma went back to town the next day, then waited three days, went back, and waited a few more, hoping nobody would get suspicious if she varied her visits. Each time she found out the whereabouts of another Storybrooke resident, and every now and then actually saw people she knew. None of them recognized her, even the dwarves, who came into the tavern in a big group one day. She went right up and said hello to Grumpy, who tipped his hat and went on his way. It got harder and harder every time, as the life she knew and had started to love felt farther and farther away. 

And then on the fifth visit, she saw Hook again. And it was way worse than before. He smiled at her, but just because she was right in front of him, and not because he recognized her. It made her feel invisible, which really sucked and reminded her of all the times in her life she’d been rejected, or people had just walked all over her.

She stalked away, even though she hadn’t found out much that day, and made her way back to Regina’s camp. She had stopped getting lost, finally, and had even started to enjoy the feeling of knowing the woods well enough to navigate through them. As she walked, she tried to concentrate on the task of figuring out what was going on here. She was confident that all of Storybrooke was here, even if she hadn’t managed to track everyone down. Nobody had their memories except for her. Her mother was a ruthless tyrant, her son was nowhere to be found, her boyfriend didn’t know who she was, and Regina … She stopped. Regina had taken her in, cared for her, and agreed to help, all without knowing who she was or why they mattered to each other. Emma thought about that. Why did Regina matter to her? Obviously because she was Henry’s other mother, but they had a relationship of their own, too. Regina had taught her everything she knew about magic, and they had come to a surprising acceptance of each other once they stopped fighting over Henry. They’d been through so much together, and Emma hadn’t ever stopped to think about how close they’d gotten.

And now… now there was something else between them. Emma sighed out loud. She knew what was happening, but she really really didn’t want to admit it. Sometimes she wished her stupid lie detector wouldn’t work on her own mind so she could just keep herself in the dark a little while longer. But it did. And she knew. But she also knew that she needed to stop it. This wasn’t the real Regina. The real Regina would roast her alive if she wandered out in her underwear to ask her to help lace up a dress. The real Regina would also point out that she had a boyfriend who she had agonized over for long enough that she should really not be looking at anyone else, even when said boyfriend didn’t know who she was. But the real Regina would also definitely tease her the same way this Regina did - that hadn’t changed. And Emma wondered if the real Regina would care for her like this if given the opportunity. 

_ Nope. No, Swan. Do not go down that road. On the scale of bad ideas, letting your mind wander into that little thought experiment is right on up there. _

Her mind went on and on like this until she reached camp. Clearly her angst showed on her face the moment she arrived, because Regina greeted her with “What happened to you?”

Emma sighed. “Nothing,” she mumbled.

Without being asked, Regina stood up to loosen the ties on her bodice for her. 

“You’re the worst liar I’ve ever met,” she said gently.

“Only around you,” Emma said. “Normally I’m really good at it.”

“Well that’s comforting.”

Emma hesitated. She could tell Regina about Hook, at least. The rest of it, not so much.

“I saw someone in town who didn’t recognize me, and it just hurt.”

“Someone important to you?” Regina asked as she finished up with the ties.

“I guess,” Emma shrugged. 

She went inside to change her clothes, and when she got out, Regina was still looking at her like she was waiting for her to say more. Emma grabbed the bow she’d been helping to restring and sat down on the log to work on it. Regina sat next to her with arrows she was whittling and waited. Emma caved.

“He’s my boyfriend, back home,” she said quietly.

Regina didn’t look at her and didn’t say anything.

“And it’s not like I’m wallowing because he’s not here or anything, but it just sucked to have him not even know who I am.”

“Why aren’t you wallowing?”

Emma looked at her sharply. “What?”

“Don’t you miss him?” Regina didn’t look up from her task as she asked this.

“I mean, yeah, I miss him. But I’m not the kind of woman who sits around daydreaming about her boyfriend all the time.”

“That’s good.”

Emma furrowed her brow. She didn’t know what to say to that. 

“How long have you two been together?” Regina asked after a pause.

“About a year,” said Emma.

“And are you happy together?”

“What kind of question is that?” Emma grumbled.

“What kind of answer is that” Regina shot back.

Emma put the bow down. “What are you doing, Regina? I said it hurt to see him in town - why are you getting at me about him?”

Regina shrugged. “I’m just making conversation.”

“Bullshit, Regina. You’re trying to get me to talk about him and I don’t want to.”

“Maybe I think you need to talk about him.”

That was the last straw. Emma did NOT need to talk about Hook and most certainly did not need to talk about Hook with Regina. Even this Regina, who she found incredibly easy to talk to. She tossed the bow aside and stood up.

“I’m going to get water,” she growled, and grabbed the half-full water skins. She didn’t care that they didn’t need it yet, she just needed to get out of there.

About halfway to the creek, she realized she was disappointed that Regina hadn’t followed her. She huffed and tried not to think about what that meant.


	7. Magic

Regina watched Emma storm off with the water skins. She thought about following her, but given that she hadn’t expected Emma to react like that, she thought she’d give her time to cool off first. Regina knew she was antagonizing her, asking about her boyfriend like that. But she couldn’t help it. Emma had told her about her entire family, her whole story from childhood until how she arrived in the forest however many weeks ago. Not once did she mention a boyfriend. You’d think someone she actually cared about would get a couple of sentences in her life story. So why did she suddenly seem to care once she saw him in town? It had to be equally disconcerting for Emma to talk to Regina herself when she didn’t know who she was. From what Emma said, the two of them spent a lot of time together in this other life of Emma’s. So yes, Regina was more than a little curious to know about this boyfriend.

And, if she was honest with herself, she wanted to know how bad she should feel about trying to attract Emma’s attentions to herself. Because after realizing just how captivated she was by her, Regina had decided she owed it to herself to see if she had a chance. She couldn’t ignore the tingling in her fingers whenever Emma asked her to help her with the dress, or the wild beating of her heart when Emma opened her eyes in the morning and smiled at her. She also couldn’t ignore the way Emma seemed to hold her breath whenever Regina touched her, and Regina needed to find out if that was because she was uncomfortable, or because she wanted her, too.

Regina finished stringing the bow Emma had left, packed away her tools, and started to take inventory of her supplies. After long enough that Emma could have easily gone to the creek and back, Regina decided to go find her. 

 

As she neared the creek, she stopped in her tracks, her ears perking up like the dog she once owned. She could hear voices. Two men, and a woman. And then she heard Emma’s voice. They were talking at a normal volume, but she was too far away to tell what they were saying. Just to be cautious, she fitted an arrow on her bow and crept forward. When she was close enough, she peered through the trees, and then groaned out loud. 

Four heads turned towards her as she did, and she stepped out of the trees.

“Robin Hood,” she said flatly. “What are you doing in my territory?”

He flashed that smile that apparently people found charming, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“Just following up on a lead, m’lady,” he said with an obnoxious little bow.

“Yeah, well follow up somewhere else. And don’t bother my friends.”

Emma was staring at the two of them like she’d never seen an argument before, but when Regina nodded in her direction, she closed her mouth and walked over to stand next to her.

“What’s with the rivalry?” Emma hissed under her breath.

Regina ignored her and turned back to Robin.

“Move along, now. I don’t want to see anybody from your little band of thieves in my territory after sundown tonight. Understood?”

Robin glared at her for a moment, but turned to his associates, cocked his head, and walked away. When they were out of earshot, she turned to Emma.

“You OK?”

“I’m fine. They were just asking for directions to the nearest road.”

Regina snorted. “No they weren’t. They were finding out who you are and what you know.”

Emma blushed. “Oh. Well all they found out was that I know where the nearest road is. And actually I sent them to the farther one, just so they wouldn’t come near camp.”

Regina had to remind herself that she was supposed to be angry at Emma for snapping at her, but really she just felt immeasurably proud that Emma both remembered where the road was and had the good sense to lead them farther from her camp.

“Well, OK then,” she said finally. “Have you finished getting water yet?”

Emma huffed and grabbed the water skins. “I was a little distracted,” she said as she bent to fill them.

Regina covered her mouth so Emma wouldn’t see her laugh at how much she sounded like a petulant child. And how utterly adorable she found it.

Emma finished filling the water, and they turned to walk back to camp in silence. When they were about halfway there, Emma stopped her.

“Regina?” she said quietly, and reached out a hand to touch her arm.

Regina stopped walking but didn’t turn around. A shiver radiated out from the place where Emma had touched her. Emma walked around in front of her, and touched her arm again, this time letting her hand linger there.

“I’m sorry I got mad at you,” Emma said. “I’m just … confused.”

That was not what Regina was expecting her to say.

“Confused?” she asked.

Emma bit her lip, and Regina felt her awareness narrow to the indentation of Emma’s teeth on her lip. And then Emma leaned forward, her eyes darting down to look directly at Regina’s mouth. Regina stood stock still as her mind raced, trying to catch up with what was happening. Emma stopped when their faces were an inch apart, her eyes searching Regina’s for something. Permission? Regina gulped in a breath before leaning forward the last inch. Her lips connected with Emma’s, and it wasn’t quite a kiss until Emma took the lead, opening her mouth just enough to wrap around Regina’s top lip. Regina heard herself whimper a little, but before she could regret it, Emma had dropped the water skins and was cupping her cheeks with her hands, kissing her more deliberately. Regina kissed her back fervently, and traced her hands along Emma’s wrists and up her arms until she could wrap one hand firmly around the back of Emma’s neck, pulling her closer. Emma moaned into her mouth, and Regina nearly fainted with the desire that spiked through her system at the sound.

Regina’s mind went blank as every part of her body tingled and her heart beat wildly in her chest. She nipped a little at Emma’s bottom lip, which earned her another delicious moan. So she did it again, and Emma moaned louder. Regina wanted more. So much more. But before she could do anything else, Emma had broken away from her with a gasp. Her eyes were wild as she stood there panting. Regina guessed she looked just as flustered as Emma did, with her lips red and moist, and her hair tousled in the back. But Emma also looked scared, whereas Regina was entirely sure she wanted this to continue.

“Emma?” she asked tentatively.

“I’m sorry,” Emma whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

With that, she turned and ran back down the path towards the creek. Regina stood there, stunned, until it was clear that Emma wasn’t coming back, and then she picked up the water skins Emma had left on the ground and went back to camp. What else could she do? She sat there for a while, replaying the memory of the kiss. Her body was still thrumming with the energy of it, though her mind whirled, trying to make sense of things.

 

***

The sun was setting and Emma still wasn’t back. Regina tried to remind herself that Emma knew how to navigate the forest now, and she could always use her magic to get back if necessary, as risky as that was with the Queen’s spies everywhere. But she also couldn’t sit still, and the more she paced, the more her worry solidified into anger. What did Emma think she was doing, leading her on like that? Regina knew now that the chemistry between them was mutual, and she understood that Emma was probably conflicted because of the boyfriend. But then she shouldn’t have kissed her at all! Not knowing how she felt might have been frustrating, but having her run away immediately after kissing her was infinitely worse. And now she was missing and Regina was not pleased.

 

When Emma came slinking back into camp about an hour after dark, the first thing Regina did was snap at her.

“Where the hell have you been?” Regina hissed as Emma emerged from the shadows.

“I’m happy to see you to,” said Emma sarcastically.

“Happy to see you has nothing to do with this,” Regina spat, and then stopped. That didn’t make any sense. “I was worried something happened to you,” she said. “You can’t just run off like that out here!”

“Then why didn’t you come looking for me?” Emma said, on the verge of shouting now.

“Because you made it clear you didn’t want me to! You ran away. Twice!”

“I went to get water!”

“You ran away!” Regina was yelling now, too, even though the rational part of her brain told her that was potentially dangerous with Robin Hood’s men probably still skulking around. She was too angry to listen to reason, though.

“How could you do that to me, Emma? How could you kiss me like that and then just run away?”

Emma shrugged and looked down at the ground.

“Answer me, damn it!” 

Emma’s eyes snapped up to hers, the anger clearly winning over whatever else she was feeling as well. “I was scared,” she bellowed. “Is that what you want to hear? I was scared because I’m not supposed to feel like that about you. So I ran away. But I came back, OK? I came back!”

She stopped, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Regina stood frozen in place, her eyes locked on Emma’s. Her own breath was coming in shallow bursts, and after a moment she saw that they were breathing in unison. That tingling in her belly started up again, and, as if drawn together by an invisible force, she and Emma crossed the six feet between them, wrapping their arms around each other and finding each other’s lips. It was a kiss like Regina had never had before. It was desperate and sweet all at the same time, the energy of the connection she’d felt growing stronger between them and finally sparking in little bursts of sensation as their lips moved around each other.  

Regina let out a little moan as Emma dug her fingers into her back. She tangled her fingers into Emma’s hair this time, as if to keep her from running a third time. Emma held her tighter, and swiped her tongue across Regina’s lips. Regina immediately opened her mouth and sighed as Emma’s tongue met her own and swirled around. Her entire focus was drawn to the feeling of Emma’s warmth inside her mouth. It was like an ache she didn’t know she had was finally being soothed, and her whole body relaxed more than she knew was possible.

Regina was startled out of her reverie by the feeling of Emma’s hands slipping underneath her tunic. She gasped, and Emma stopped where she was, pulling her face away a few inches to ask her unspoken question.

“Keep going,” Regina whispered, and trailed a hand down Emma’s arm, coaxing it further under the fabric and pressing their hips together. 

“You’re sure?” Emma asked quietly, but her hands were moving again.

Regina nodded vigorously. “Are you?”

Emma chuckled, and bent to kiss her again. “Yes,” she whispered between kisses. “I want you.”

“Emma….” Regina groaned. 

Emma’s hands were on her back, her ribs, her belly, and Regina could feel the trail of heat they left in their wake. She suddenly stepped back and grabbed Emma’s hand, leading her into the cave. She bent to light a lantern, but Emma flicked her wrist and the wick burst into flame before Regina could touch it. She turned to find Emma smiling seductively at her.

“Can I tell you something?” she whispered, wrapping her arms slowly around Emma’s waist and pulling her close.

Emma hummed in response and started to slowly undo the belt around Regina’s tunic. She bent her head and nuzzled into Regina’s neck. The feeling of her lips and tongue grazing across the sensitive skin there was glorious, and Regina groaned softly.

“What were you going to tell me?” Emma murmured, not leaving her spot.

_ What was she going to say? _ Regina couldn’t remember.  _ Oh, right, Emma’s magic. _

“It makes me shiver every time you do magic,” she said breathily. 

Emma stopped what she was doing and looked at her quizzically. “It does?” she asked.

Regina nodded and pressed a hand to Emma’s chest. “Do it again,” she whispered.

“What? Magic?”

“Yes.”

Emma looked unsure. “I thought you said it was dangerous.”

“We’re safe here,” Regina said. “And right now I just don’t care.”

Emma grinned at that, and returned to her spot at Regina’s neck. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

Regina closed her eyes. “Whatever you like.”

Emma hummed and then chuckled. “I could undress you,” she said. Her tone was teasing but Regina felt her temperature rise. She pulled Emma’s chin towards her so she could kiss her again. The kiss was slow, and sensual, and incredibly hot. When she was sure that Emma was as turned on as she was, Regina pulled her mouth back half an inch to whisper “Undress me, Miss Swan.”

The way Emma stopped breathing and stared at her with pure lust made Regina want to freeze time and stay right there in that moment forever. But then Emma stepped back and waved her hand, and that inexplicable tingling from the magic plus the cool air that hit her now naked torso had Regina moaning and surging forward to capture Emma’s lips again.

“You too,” she managed to say between kisses. She needed to feel Emma’s skin on hers. Desperately. Emma stepped back and flicked her fingers again, her own tunic and undershirt flying off into the corner someplace. Regina bit her lip. Emma was gorgeous, and getting to look at her without censoring herself was bliss.

“Come here,” Emma murmured, and pulled her in for yet another kiss. Regina moaned as their breasts brushed against each other. Emma moaned into her mouth, too, and Regina thought she could just about die happy at that moment. Except not, because that simple touch reminded her that there was so much more touching to be had.

She moved her mouth away from Emma’s lips and started to trail kisses down her neck and onto her collarbones. She kissed her way down Emma’s chest, and crouched down so she could run her tongue along the scar and faded bruise on Emma’s side. Emma breathed out slowly as she did this, her hands stroking Regina’s hair gently.

“Does it still hurt?” Regina whispered.

“Not really,” said Emma. “But that feels amazing.”

Regina smiled and licked across the scar a few more times before standing back up. She trailed her fingers up Emma’s ribcage, coming to rest right underneath her breasts. 

“Yes, Regina,” Emma breathed. “Please.”

Regina grinned. The desire in Emma’s voice made her tremble, and she dug her fingers into Emma’s ribs. Emma moaned. Regina loved this. The exchange of taking the lead from one to the other - giving each other not only the touch they both craved, but also the opportunity to drink in the other’s reaction. She couldn’t remember if she’d ever had an encounter like this before, and she was practically giddy with anticipation of everything they could do tonight.

She crept her fingers up over Emma’s breasts, slowly circling her hardening nipples before squeezing gently and then running her thumbs over the peaks. Emma gasped. Regina did it again. And then without warning, Emma seized control, pushing her back up against the wall of the cave and sliding her tongue into Regina’s mouth. It was ecstasy. Emma kept their lips joined while she roughly palmed Regina’s breasts, making Regina groan with want. 

Emma bent down and took one of Regina’s nipples in her mouth, biting down on it hard enough to make Regina hiss. When she released it, Regina shivered and squirmed as the relief flooded through her. Emma soothed it with her tongue and looked up, as if questioning that that was OK. 

Regina nodded and closed her eyes as she groaned out, “more.” Emma went to work in earnest, biting and sucking her nipples until Regina could feel herself soaking through her undergarments, which were, tragically, still in place on her lower half. She watched Emma’s tongue dart out of those perfect lips, watched Emma’s hands grip her hips, and her desire to touch got the better of her, so she dragged Emma up her body. She kissed her roughly, biting her lower lip a couple of times, as she ran her hands over every section of exposed skin she could. 

She then reached lower and grabbed Emma’s incredible backside and tugged her close. She moved one hand up and started to push down into the waistband of her leggings.

“May I?” she asked into Emma’s mouth.

“Yes,” Emma groaned. “Please do.”

Regina smirked, deciding then that she wanted nothing more than to tease and work Emma up so far that when she finally let her come it would be spectacular. She pulled her hands around the front of her leggings, fiddling with the button she found there. It took longer than she wanted to get it open, and when she glanced up, she found Emma biting back laughter.

“Something funny, Miss Swan?” she said.

“Just a nice change - you having trouble with my clothing instead of me for once.”

Regina smiled for real, and pressed a soft kiss to Emma’s belly. Emma sighed and stroked her cheek. Regina pressed into her hand for a moment before returning to the task at hand. She got the leggings about halfway down before they got stuck, and really all she could do was laugh.

“A little help?” she said to Emma, who was laughing along with her.

Emma waved her hand and the garment disappeared. Regina’s hands twitched with that tingling sensation that was becoming familiar. She leaned back on her heels and gazed at Emma, who was now completely bare in front of her.

“Come lie down,” she said softly, a tenderness bubbling up in her chest that should have been at odds with her desire but somehow just made it better. Emma bit her lip and settled herself on her back on Regina’s side of the cave. 

“I want you naked, too,” Emma said. 

Regina giggled.

“What?” said Emma.

“Nothing, it just sounded funny.”

Emma grinned at her. “I like that you can laugh during sex.”

“Oh is that what we’re doing?”

Emma blushed and looked down, and Regina worried for a moment that she’d made her uncomfortable, but brushed it off when Emma reached for her again. She went to straddle Emma’s hips and leaned in as far as she could without letting their skin touch. Emma stared up at her, her breath starting to come in pants. And then Regina licked her lips, slowly and deliberately. Emma’s breath hitched and Regina knew she had her. 

“Finish undressing me,” Regina whispered. Emma reached down to pull her leggings down, but Regina grabbed her wrist. “Use your magic. I want to feel it up close.”

Emma’s hand trembled and for a second Regina thought she was asking too much. But instead, Emma placed Regina’s hand over her own, and then twitched her fingers. Regina gasped as the tingle coursed through her body like lightning. 

“What is that?” she whispered. “That feeling?”

“I don’t know,” Emma replied. “Does it feel good?”

“So good. It’s like … I don’t know how to describe it. But it’s wonderful.”

“Mmmm.”

Regina was so distracted by the jolt from Emma’s magic that she hadn’t quite noticed that she was still sitting astride her, with nothing between Emma’s belly and her own soaking wet center. She bit her lip and looked down, rolling her hips a little to test the sensation of skin on skin. Emma’s hands flew up and cupped her from behind. 

“Regina,” she whispered.

Regina rolled her hips again, smiling at the way Emma seemed to get lost in the feeling of her wetness spreading across her stomach. Regina desperately wanted to make Emma writhe and moan and scream her name, so she crawled off of Emma’s hips and settled in to tease her. She ran her fingers and tongue and lips and teeth all over her. Emma gasped and moaned and grabbed at her, and Regina kept teasing. She moved her attentions to Emma’s thighs, scratching up one side and down the other, biting right at the apex before skittering back down towards her knees. She could see and smell how wet Emma was, but she wanted to wait until neither of them could stand it anymore. Emma seemed to be getting closer to that breaking point, as she kept curling and uncurling her fists as they grabbed at Regina’s hair. 

“Regina,” she whimpered, and Regina grinned. She massaged Emma’s inner thighs while her tongue swirled around a hip bone.

“Regina, please,” Emma cried, louder this time. 

Regina hummed into her skin. “You want me to touch you?” she murmured, just about ready to stop teasing but somehow needing to hear Emma say it.

“Yes!” Emma moaned, her voice breaking with desperation. 

She relented and bent to trace her tongue up the middle of Emma’s soaking wet center. Emma let out a long drawn-out groan, and Regina thought she might come right then and there. Emma tasted so good. Without a second thought, she went to work, licking and sucking and drinking in the taste and feel of her. Emma squirmed around her, the most delicious noises falling from her mouth. Regina pushed her tongue inside, and moaned at the feeling of being so surrounded by her. Emma twitched and grabbed at her. Regina pulled her tongue out and whispered “fingers?”

“God yes,” Emma responded right away, making Regina grin.

She sat up enough so Emma could see her, and then put two fingers into her mouth, deliberately taking her time as she moistened them with her tongue, which was still slick from being inside Emma. Emma whimpered as Regina bent back down and carefully pushed the two fingers inside her. She started to move her fingers in and out and around, slowly at first and then faster when Emma bucked her hips towards her. As Emma started to really pant and writhe, Regina put her tongue back on her, swirling around her clit and then sucking hard. 

“Regina,” Emma gasped. “God, please don’t stop.”

Regina didn’t stop. She swirled her fingers and sucked with her mouth, her eyes glued to Emma’s face as it twisted in ecstasy. And then Emma tensed and shuddered, crying out with an intensity Regina wanted to hear again as soon as it was done. She pulled her mouth away but kept her fingers where they were until Emma pushed at her. Regina smiled as she licked her lips, the taste of Emma all around her. 

Emma was lying there, her legs spread open and an arm flung over her face as she seemed to fight to catch her breath.

“Regina,” she said eventually. “Fuck, that was amazing.”

Regina laughed heartily, and leaned over to grab one of the water skins.

“Have some water, Miss Swan,” she said, handing it over. “You sound like you need it.”

Emma laughed, but she sat up and drank down long gulps of water before handing the water skin back to Regina, who took a few sips as well. As soon as she put it down, Emma grabbed Regina’s hand and brought it to her mouth. She kissed her open palm a couple of times, and then moved up to the two fingers that were still sticky from having been inside her just a few minutes before. Emma sucked them slowly into her mouth, swirling her tongue around them in ways that made Regina’s eyes flutter closed. Emma pulled her mouth away to lean in and kiss Regina passionately. Regina opened her mouth and sucked Emma’s tongue into it, and oh, she was ready to have Emma fingers and tongue inside her. Emma broke off the kiss and leaned back, taking Regina with her. Regina willingly crawled onto her, fitting their legs together and reveling in the feel of their sweaty skin sticking together. 

“You feel so good,” she murmured, leaning down to press soft little kisses on Emma’s chest. 

Emma groaned. “ _ You _ feel so good,” she said.

Regina smiled at her. “I’m very glad you’re here, Miss Swan,” she said quietly.

“Me too,” Emma replied. She brushed Regina’s hair out of her face, gazing at her with the most adoring expression in her eyes. Regina felt her heart flutter like it often did when Emma smiled at her. She leaned down and kissed Emma with little pecks on the lips - once, twice, a third time. And then Emma grabbed her around the waist, rolling them over and pressing her tongue inside Regina’s open mouth in one seamless motion. Regina moaned as she relinquished control, wrapping her arms loosely around Emma’s back but otherwise just letting herself get lost in the feeling of  _ Emma. _

Emma seemed to be taking her time, just as Regina had, and Regina had no complaints. She brushed her fingertips over her skin, and bent to kiss and nip at sensitive places. By the time she got to Regina’s neck, Regina was already panting and debating how much longer she could stop herself from demanding more. But when Emma sucked on that one perfect spot between her collarbone and neck, Regina forgot about everything else. Nobody she’d been with had paid this much attention to her reactions or spent this much time finding out exactly how she liked to be touched. But Emma did. Emma ran her hands over the same spot three times to figure out how hard Regina liked it. She murmured little questions into Regina’s skin about how she was feeling, and Regina found herself actually answering honestly. 

When Emma had covered every inch of her body with her mouth and hands, she sat up between Regina’s legs to pull her hair back into a tighter bun. When it was secure, she rested her hands on Regina’s thighs and fixed her with a bright smile.

“You’re beautiful, you know,” Emma said gently.

Regina sighed. “I feel beautiful when you look at me like that.”

Emma blushed, and it was perfect.

Regina reached up to trace a finger over Emma’s cheekbones. It was such a sweet moment, but what Regina really needed was more of that desperate passion. She spread her legs wider, shifting down so that Emma’s knees were almost touching her. 

“I want to feel your tongue on me,” she said, and it came out as more of a growl than she’d intended, but had the desired effect on Emma, who breathed out slowly before crawling down Regina’s body. And then her tongue was on Regina’s most sensitive flesh, and Regina was crying out and twitching and absolutely lost in the sensations. Everything in her mind faded to the background as Emma coaxed her arousal higher and higher. When she came the first time, she wrapped her legs around Emma’s shoulders, drawing her even closer. Emma let her twitch and shudder, nuzzling into her thighs until her body settled down. Then she started again, entering Regina with one finger and then another before bringing her other hand up to play with her clit as well. Regina came the second time embarrassingly quickly, but in her defense, Emma was really, really good at this.

Regina could probably have kept going, but after her second release the desire to get more of that sweet, gentle touch that had happened a few times overruled her still highly aroused senses. She beckoned Emma up and wrapped an arm around her, cradling Emma’s head on her shoulder. She kissed her still sweaty forehead, and threaded her fingers into the hair that had escaped from its ties. Emma hummed and hugged her closer.

“You are very good at that,” Regina said eventually.

Emma laughed. “Am I? Well that’s good to know. It’s been a while.”

“I’m positive it’s been longer for me,” said Regina.

“Hmmm, last time I was with a woman was … five years ago?”

Regina smiled, ignoring her curiosity for the moment about Emma’s past lovers. 

“How about you?” Emma asked.

“Hmmm?”

“When was the last time you did this?”

“Oh, it’s been quite a while.”

Emma propped herself up on her elbow so she could look at Regina. “That’s not an answer,” she said with a grin.

Regina rolled her eyes. She didn’t particularly mind admitting that she’d only had one other experience with a woman and that it was when she was still a teenager, but she did enjoy teasing Emma.

“What will you give me if I answer you?” she asked, suddenly coy.

Emma laughed and swatted her playfully. “I’m pretty sure I just gave you two really good orgasms.”

Regina pretended to consider. “How about a third?”

Emma shifted so she was lying on top of her, and Regina couldn’t help but run her hands along her muscular back.

“Tell me,” Emma whispered.

“I did tell you, it was a long time ago,” Regina said, but her resolve was slipping.

Emma bent to nip at her earlobe a few times. “Tell me,” she repeated.

Regina relented. “I was 16,” she whispered. 

Emma stopped and look down at her. “Really? Have there been men since then?”

Regina nodded, feeling embarrassment rise. Emma saw her demeanor shift and kissed her sweetly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound judgy.”

“It’s OK. I’ve been … alone for a long time.”

Emma smiled at her. “Well you’re not alone now,” she said.

“No, I’m not,” she whispered, and leaned up to kiss Emma again.

They did in fact carry on most of the night, and Regina couldn’t remember her body ever feeling so satisfied. Or the rest of her, for that matter.


	8. Falling

Ever since Emma told Regina the whole story of what had happened, she’d had a harder time remembering that this wasn’t the real Regina. It was like the two versions of the woman melded into one in her mind, and she got so flustered trying to keep them separate that eventually she just gave up. This Regina was right here in front of her, had taken her in and cared for her, and was currently the only person she could rely on to help her figure out how to break the curse the Author or Gold had put them under. So it didn’t really matter, did it? What started to get to her was how to think about all the things Regina had said about her life. What was real, and what was made up for this timeline or realm or whatever world they were in? How could Emma take anything she said seriously if she didn’t know if it was true? 

This became more of a problem the night that Emma abandoned her carefully honed self control and kissed Regina. She’d been somewhat successful in pushing aside the heat that she felt whenever Regina touched her and ignoring the longing glances Regina gave her when she thought she wasn’t looking. Because it was Regina, for God’s sake! Henry’s other mother, who had literally tried to kill her when they first met. And besides, Emma had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who she had very nearly said “I love you” to not that long ago. Except that right now, Hook was just some pirate who didn’t even know her, and while that was hard for her in the moment when she saw him, she realized that most of the time she didn’t really miss him. And she didn’t miss him because she had Regina to talk to and to joke with, and frankly it was just so much easier to be around Regina than it had ever been to be around Hook, for all that she found him charming and attractive. And that told her that maybe Hook was just convenient. Maybe what she liked most about him was that he was around, and paid attention to her. And that … was a pretty uncomfortable thought.

So when Regina started asking pointed questions about Hook, and more importantly when Emma didn’t have good answers for them, she freaked out. And ran away. Like she did. 

And then Regina came to find her, and everything changed. Hook was always chasing after her, and it was nice to have someone not give up on her. But Regina wasn’t giving up on her either, and when Emma really thought about it, the real Regina had stuck around through a whole lot of bullshit, too. Regina had pushed her away plenty of times, yes, but she’d also come back and tried to make things work. And that was something Emma understood all too well.

And really it just wasn’t fair, because damn, Regina was an attractive woman, even out here in the forest with her hair tied back haphazardly and her purely practical clothing covered in layers of dirt. Regina’s attractiveness had nothing to do with the way she kept herself meticulously groomed at home in Storybrooke. It was her eyes that pierced into Emma like she could see through all of her walls, and her gorgeous curves that drew Emma’s gaze, and her expressive lips that curled just so when she was annoyed. God, Emma was really attracted to her. 

And so here she was lying in bed with her fingers running through Regina’s hair while Regina dozed, curled up in her side. And even though Emma knew she should be freaking out about this, at the moment her body was so satisfied and calm that she let herself sink further into Regina’s warmth and forget about what this could mean. If this turned out to be a huge mistake, then she was going to enjoy every second of it before it blew up in her face.

Regina stirred and smiled up at her sleepily. It was the most adorable thing Emma had ever seen, and she knew she had a dopey smile on her face when she looked back at her.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Hi,” Regina purred, and kissed her cheek. “Was I asleep long?”

Emma shook her head. “Just a few minutes.”

“Mmmm. And you didn’t run away.”

Emma bit her lip. “No, I didn’t,” she said quietly.

“Good,” said Regina, laying her head back down on Emma’s chest. “Because you’re really comfortable.”

Emma chuckled at that and wrapped an arm around Regina’s waist. Regina reached a hand up and started to play with Emma’s necklaces. Emma never took them off and kind of forgot about them sometimes. She knew Regina was going to ask her about them, and she steeled herself for the conversation that would inevitably follow. Right on cue, Regina leaned her chin on Emma’s chest and said, “Tell me about these.”

“They were from Henry’s father,” Emma said. 

Regina just watched her, waiting for her to keep talking.

Emma sighed. She found herself wanting to tell Regina everything about all of the loss and love that lined her heart. But that wasn’t the kind of thing you did while you were naked in bed with someone, was it? And especially not when that someone was Regina Mills? But also not Regina Mills? But when Regina looked at her like that, Emma’s resolve melted away, and she let her thoughts come pouring out.

“His name was Neal. And it’s complicated, but the point is that he was the first person I ever loved, and then the first person who broke my heart. And then later he was the first person who I ever forgave for breaking my heart. I put these on after I had Henry and gave him away. And I guess at first they were a reminder that I shouldn’t trust anyone with my heart. But now they’re a reminder that my heart can take more than I think it can.”

She stopped. She’d never quite put that into words before, but it was true. Regina leaned in and kissed her once, sweetly.

“That’s beautiful,” she whispered, tracing her fingers down Emma’s arms. 

Emma tensed up, knowing what was coming next.

“How about this?” Regina traced her fingers over the shoelace Emma wore around her wrist. That one she didn’t wear all the time, but since it had been on when whatever transported her here happened, she had just left it on. And that one was infinitely worse to tell Regina about. Because it was all about her.

“I can’t … I can’t tell you that,” she stammered.

Regina furrowed her brow. “Why not?”

“Just, please don’t ask me to explain.”

“Emma…” Regina said. “You can tell me. You can trust me. Please don’t hold back.”

Emma heart lurched. She always held back. She always kept her most treasured thoughts to herself. She always kept herself hidden away. And yet it had felt so good to open up to Regina tonight. Maybe because it wasn’t really Regina. Or maybe because it was. Maybe this was her opportunity to have this conversation without the risk of getting fireballed. She smiled a little at the thought, and let herself sink into Regina’s gaze.

“OK,” she whispered. “But are you sure? It’s … it’s about you. Or rather, the version of you from back home.”

Regina nodded.

“When I first came to Storybrooke, you and I fought about everything. We fought over Henry, over town politics, and we fought over a guy. Graham. You…” Emma stopped. She couldn’t say this to Regina’s face, could she? Even if she didn’t remember?

“Go on. What did I do?”

“It wasn’t you,” Emma said immediately.

“Maybe. Or maybe not. Just tell me, Emma. Tell me what I did to you back then.”

Her words cut Emma to the core. But she’d already started, so she summoned whatever courage she could find and kept going.

“You had Graham under some kind of control, and had … a relationship with him that way. When I came to town, he was clearly interested in me. And I liked him, too. But I think I liked stealing him from you more than anything. And you … killed him for it.”

Regina gasped. Emma stopped talking.

“I really was the Evil Queen,” Regina whispered.

“But you changed,” Emma said quickly, and brushed Regina’s hair out of her face. “You learned to be good. Anyway, I’m not done. This is one of Graham’s shoelaces. I didn’t love him - I barely knew him. But I wore it for a while as a reminder that someone wanted me. I’d started to feel really shitty about myself by that point in life, and even just a good guy like him being interested in me was helpful.”

Regina looked down, and Emma cupped her chin to catch her gaze.

“But as you and I got over our hatred and realized how much we had in common, I learned to forgive you,” she said pointedly. “I learned to forgive Neal, and I learned to forgive you. And I wear this now as a reminder of how bad things got, and how they didn’t stay bad. Things can always get better when you work for it.”

Regina blinked back tears, but kept her gaze. “Emma I’m so sorry.”

Emma smiled sadly. “I know. You never said it in so many words, but I know.”

“You forgave me?” Regina asked.

“I did. And I do.”

Regina turned her head so she was laying with her ear on Emma’s chest. Emma kissed her forehead, thinking how right it felt to finally say out loud what neither of them had had the courage to say before. And how bizarrely comforting it was to be able to hold Regina while they shared this moment.

“Are you OK?” Emma asked tentatively.

“Mmhmm,” Regina murmured. “Just … processing.”

“It’s a lot, I know.”

“I’m glad you told me.”

She lay there for a few more breaths and then sat up to look at Emma again. “What about your boyfriend?”

Emma froze. “What about him?”

“Do you wear anything of his?”

Emma almost laughed at the utter ridiculousness of the situation she found herself in at this moment. But then she thought about Regina’s question and answered, “No, I don’t. I guess … I guess he was always there so I never had to keep any reminders of him.”

Regina gazed at her with an unreadable expression for much longer than was comfortable.

“Do you love him?” she asked finally.

Emma held her breath. Two days ago she might have said “maybe,” and meant “probably.” Right now, though … she slowly shook her head no, knowing that in this moment that was true. And maybe she imagined it, but Regina looked a little bit relieved by her answer.

“Do you miss him?” Regina asked.

“Not really,” Emma replied honestly.

Regina nodded, as if satisfied with that.

“Can we stop talking about him now?” Emma said.

Regina chuckled, and leaned in, so slowly that Emma could feel herself practically shaking in anticipation by the time she pressed their lips together, kissing her with a passion that immediately ignited Emma’s desire, and she once again gave herself fully to this incredible woman.

 

***

At some point over the next few weeks Emma stopped worrying about what it meant to be falling for Regina, and just let herself fall. They were no closer to figuring out what was happening in this bizarro upside-down realm, and even as Emma despaired over finding Henry, she often caught herself feeling, well, happy. She’d never thought of herself as a “quiet life” kind of person, but after so much time alone and then so much turmoil since finding her family, she had to admit that having just the basics for a bit was kind of a relief. Of course, now “the basics” included cuddling and kissing and having sex with a gorgeous woman who adored her, and Emma certainly wasn’t going to complain about that.

Because Regina did clearly adore her. And Emma found herself feeling the same way more and more. The guilt and uncertainty about Hook faded into the background as her life in the Enchanted Forest became more real and her life in Storybrooke became more like a memory. It helped that the ship he was on seemed to have left, and there were no pirates around when she went in to town for supplies and intel. Everyone else seemed to be living their lives with little disruption as well, so she was able to relax a bit and not worry as much that she hadn’t found a way to break this curse yet. Henry was the one sticking point. She missed the hell out of him, and even though she’d told herself a million times that if Gold had made all this happen, he wouldn’t have harmed Henry (no matter what he said, he clearly had a soft spot for his grandson). Emma just wanted to know where he was. Nobody had heard of anyone like him.

Regina seemed to have taken her role as Henry’s other mother to heart, and asked Emma about him constantly. After a week of questions, Emma finally sat her down and just told her everything she could think of about her son - their son. Regina ate it up, especially the details about how Henry had found Emma in the first place. For some reason she found it unbelievably charming that a 10 year old kid could not only find his birth mother but go to another city to get her and bring her back to his house. Emma grumbled that she wished Regina had felt that way at the time, and Regina just laughed and kissed her, and then kissed her again, and then they stopped talking about Henry for a while.

Emma had completely lost track of the days spent in the forest. One morning, probably a few months after she’d gotten there, Emma woke up alone. She waited, expecting Regina to come back inside and crawl under the covers with her like usual, but the cave remained perfectly still and quiet. She got up, pulled on her jeans and shirt, and went outside. She poked around a little, and was just starting to get worried when Regina appeared in the clearing. She hastily stuffed whatever was in her hand into her bag and smiled at Emma.

“Good morning sunshine,” she said brightly.

Emma accepted the hug she was offered but only briefly. “Where did you go so early?” she asked.

“Just met up with my supplier.”

Emma narrowed her eyes. Regina’s supplier, a local teenager who had supported her since she was forced to go into hiding, did supply runs in the evenings. And had just done one a day ago.

“You’re hiding something,” Emma said.

Regina blushed. “None of your business.”

Her tone was playful, and Emma decided to up the ante. Without warning she grabbed Regina’s bag and darted away before Regina could catch her.

“Emma! Give that back!” Regina chased her, and Emma led her in a circle around the cave. What she didn’t expect was for Regina to double back and catch her from the opposite direction. Emma let out a comically loud “oof” as Regina tackled her to the ground. She managed to keep her grip on the bag, though. That was, until Regina pushed her onto her back, straddled her hips, and kissed her. Emma was putty in her hands when she did that, and Regina easily snatched her bag away, keeping her lips on Emma’s until she had leverage to leap up off of her and dart away, leaving Emma panting on the ground.

“No fair!” she called into the cave where Regina had disappeared.

“All’s fair in love and war, dear,” Regina’s response drifted out.

Emma stopped where she was, holding her limbs perfectly still as if moving would disrupt the silence that gathered around Regina’s teasing statement. Emma listened hard, and heard nothing, indicating that Regina had stopped moving as well. Emma’s mind raced, but couldn’t settle on any one thought. And then Regina walked out holding their empty water skins. She tossed one to Emma, who caught it out of pure physical instinct.

“I’m going on a water run,” Regina said. “Want to come?”

Emma nodded, her words still trapped behind a wall of _ what the hell just happened between us  _ and  _ did that mean what I think it meant.  _ Regina seemed determined to ignore it, though, and for now, Emma let it go.

 

***

It was three more days before Emma finally got her answer about what Regina had brought back to camp that morning. Regina kept sneaking out before Emma was awake, and no matter how hard Emma tried to get herself to wake up early to see what was happening, Regina always beat her to it. She resigned herself to waiting, but that did nothing to stop the curiosity that buzzed in her head every morning.

They had woken up, gone for water, and gathered together the plan for Emma’s trip into town that day when Regina grabbed Emma’s hand and told her to wait outside the cave for her. Emma sat down, her knee bouncing in anticipation of whatever it was Regina was doing in secret. She truly had no idea.

Regina came back out holding something behind her back. She sat down next to Emma and held her hand out to her. In it was a length of delicately twisted and braided red and blue cloth - really nice cloth by the looks of it - with a couple of shiny black feathers woven in and a clasp on one end. She took it and traced the twists with her fingers, enjoying the smooth feel of it. She looked up at Regina, who smiled and took it back from her.

“It’s for your hair,” she said quietly, and motioned for Emma to turn around so she could put it on. 

The headband fit perfectly, and would help keep Emma’s hair out of her eyes. Clearly Regina had noticed that she stopped to redo her ponytail like five times a day because the one hair band she’d happened to have with her when she arrived was total crap and kept letting tendrils escape to get in her eyes. She turned back to Regina, who traced her fingers down the headband and twirled a piece of Emma’s hair between them. 

“It suits you,” Regina said with a shy smile.

“Thank you,” Emma whispered. She heard how pinched her voice sounded and tried to clear her throat. It didn’t work. “Did you make this?” she asked.

“I did. In the mornings when you were still asleep.”

Emma’s heart glowed as she pictured Regina sitting outside working on it in the early mornings, and she took Regina’s hand in both of hers. 

“Thank you, Regina,” she said again.

“I wanted you to have something to wear from me. Just, you know, in case you need reminding that someone … cares about you a lot.”

And suddenly Emma understood. She’d told Regina about all of her little keepsakes she wore as reminders, and Regina had wanted her to have one from her. She squeezed her hand tighter before leaning forward to place a sweet kiss on Regina’s lips.

“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.

Regina smiled. “Then just kiss me again.”

And Emma did.

 

***

Something shifted between them after that. They still teased and laughed and worked on solving the riddle of finding Henry, but there were more moments of stillness where their eyes would soften and they would find themselves just staring at each other. It ignited something in Emma that she thought she had buried a long time ago, after the first time her heart got broken. And it felt good, but it was intense, and sometimes Emma felt herself wanting to shy away from it. But she tried really hard not to.

And maybe it was because this world still felt a little bit unreal, or maybe it was because even a different version of Regina was someone she had learned to trust, but once she even came really close to saying “I love you” to Regina. Which was nuts, because she had dated Hook for a year and still hadn’t gotten up the courage to say it to him. But on the other hand, she hadn’t felt anything like this with him. He had felt safe, and comforting, and exciting sometimes, too. But this? This was something else entirely.  

She and Regina had been cooking together that evening, and when everything was ready and they were just waiting for the stew to simmer for a while, she took Regina into her arms and squeezed her tight, pressing soft kisses into her neck.

Regina hummed. “What was that for?” she asked, wrapping her arms around Emma in return.

“Just because,” Emma said into her neck. She sat back, and traced a finger down Regina’s cheek. “Regina … I…” she started, but then stopped. She tried again. “I want to tell you…” but she couldn’t.

Regina caught her hand and brought it up to her lips briefly. “I know, Emma,” she whispered. “I know.” She kissed her hand again. “Me too.”

And it was perfect. Emma didn’t quite understand anything that had happened to her since she landed here in this alternate reality, but she knew how she felt, and hearing that Regina felt the same way just made it even better.

 

That night after dinner, Emma offered to go get more kindling while Regina cleaned up. She wandered around for a while in the woods daydreaming before getting down to business. She had just gathered a good handful of branches when a sound stopped her in her tracks. Hoofbeats. And they were getting closer. She dropped the kindling and pelted back towards camp, rounding the cave just as a group of horses came into view.

“Regina,” she hissed into the cave. “Knights.”

Regina emerged from the cave with her bow already in her hand, and handed Emma a knife. She’d already seen them, clearly. Her face was set.

“Follow my lead,” Regina said, and took off down the path to the stream. Emma knew she was headed towards her network of traps, and ran after her. The knights followed, overtaking them in no time. Regina turned right, and she and Emma stood back to back at the base of a tree with a trap set up in its branches. It was eerily similar to the day they’d first met here, and Emma fought to get her mind to focus on her magic, rather than the panic that was rising quickly.

“Just turn yourself in, Regina,” one of the knights growled. “We have you surrounded.”

“Never,” Regina spat, and kicked the wire on the ground that sent a bludgeon hurtling towards the knight. He was knocked clear onto the ground, and the others attacked immediately.

Emma summoned her magic, her fighting instincts kicking into gear as she sent a shockwave towards the remaining knights. It knocked them back, but another group emerged on foot from the trees on the other side of them.

“Shit,” she muttered, hearing Regina gasp.

They fought. Arrows flew, magic soared, and knights kept coming. Emma threw fireball after fireball, hoping the dry brush would catch and let them escape in the smoke. But it didn’t, and she started to realize that they were beyond outnumbered. Regina screeched behind her, and Emma whipped around to see that a knight had grabbed her from behind. Emma wasn’t willing to risk hitting Regina with a burst of magic, so she lunged and instead elbowed him in the face. He stumbled backwards, but as soon as he’d let Regina go, another knight grabbed Emma and pinned her hands behind her, wrenching one of her shoulders so badly that she saw stars. Dimly she saw another knight grab Regina and start to drag her away. She saw a flash of silver, and the knight pulled back, blood pouring from a deep cut on his hand. Regina whirled on him with the knife, but at the same time, another knight came out of nowhere. 

“Regina!” Emma screamed, but it was too late. The knight attacked, knocking Regina out with one blow to her head. Emma shrieked as total panic took over her system. She wrenched her good arm away from the knight, and got as far as reaching out towards Regina before he kicked her in the stomach hard enough that she fell to the ground immediately. As she did, she felt a burst of magic flow through her outstretched arm. She peered up through the pain, and just barely caught a glimpse of the space where Regina had been, now empty except for the knights looking around them in confusion. Emma took a deep breath, trying to find enough magic to transport herself away, but before she could, the knight next to her struck out again, this time at her head, and the world went black.


	9. Searching

Regina opened her eyes and groaned at the dried moss staring back at her from the ceiling of the cave. Tears pricked at her eyes as a cold silence engulfed her, and she threw an arm over her face. Another day of searching lay before her, and she didn’t know if she could face it. The last tip from her contacts in town had seemed so promising. When she followed up on the intel, it led her to a prison the Queen thought nobody knew about at the edge of the forest. She was so sure she would find Emma there. But she didn’t. Regina had wasted an entire month’s worth of bribes, planning, traveling, and sheer luck to get herself into that prison, and Emma wasn’t even there. She had never been there, and nobody there had seen or heard of her. So now she was back. Alone. Again. And Emma, her sweet, silly, loving Emma was out there someplace. Regina refused to consider that she’d simply been killed on the spot. It was too painful, and besides, Violet, her supply runner, had agreed that the Queen would be interested in Emma’s magic, so would probably keep her around to see if she would prove useful.

Regina sighed as she sat up. No more crying. If she had to start over again -  so be it. She would start over again.

She got up, grabbed her bow and the water skins, and headed out. As she was filling her water at the creek, the back of her neck started to prickle. She was being watched. Slowly, she set the skins down, drew her bow, and turned around in one swift movement.

A teenage boy held up a hand to stop her from shooting. “Mom?” he asked. “Is that you?”

Regina’s heart skipped a beat, and she just stared at him.

“Everything’s all backwards here,” he muttered. “Look, my name is…”

“Henry,” Regina breathed.

His eyes lit up. “You remember!”

Regina quickly shook her head. “No, I don’t. But I do know who you are.” She glanced around. “It’s not safe here. Come with me.”

She tucked her arrow back into its quiver and led the boy back up the path towards the cave. This was Emma’s son. This was Henry. Regina had thought she believed Emma, but maybe she hadn’t entirely, because seeing him right here in front of her told her without a shadow of a doubt that it was all true, and that was terrifying.

When they arrived at her camp, Regina took Henry’s arm and led him through the magical barrier that had appeared when Emma saved her life. Regina had discovered the barrier when she woke after that terrible night to rain pouring down outside, while a roughly 6 foot radius of ground remained dry around her cave. Animals wouldn’t come through it, and if she approached from the back side, she couldn’t even see the cave. She had no idea how Emma had done it, but Emma had saved her, and then protected her, even at her own expense. 

Henry jumped when they passed through the barrier. He clearly hadn’t been able to see the cave from the outside.  _ Interesting _ . Regina led him to the logs by the fire and sat down, handing him some water.

“Mom, what’s going on?” he asked.

Regina sighed. “I’m not really your mother,” she said, hating the confusion on his face. 

“Then how do you know who I am?”

“Emma,” she said, her voice breaking. She closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. “Before she was captured, Emma told me all about you.”

“Ma’s here?” Henry said eagerly, and then Regina saw what she had said sink in. “Wait, who captured her?”

“The Queen,” Regina said. When Henry just stared at her, she sighed. “I think I’d better start from the beginning.”

 

***

It took an hour of explanation before both Henry and Regina understood each other’s stories. Back in Storybrooke, where Regina apparently had a life completely different from the one she knew, this all-powerful Author person had penned a book that trapped them all in a story where the villains got their “happy endings” and everyone else suffered. Henry figured he was immune because he was born in the “real world,” and Emma was immune because of her magic as the savior. Henry was also convinced there was a way to undo the whole thing by changing the rules, or something. But Regina honestly didn’t care. All she wanted was to get Emma back. 

For her part, she explained the loose outline of her life and then how she and Emma had gotten to know one another. She didn’t tell Henry everything, of course. As soon as she really thought about it, she understood part of why Emma had been so hesitant to admit her feelings for her at first. If this other world was real, then she and Emma had a very different type of relationship there, and there were many many reasons why it was probably a bad idea to get involved romantically. First among them being the boy who sat in front of her right now. That changed nothing about how Regina felt, of course. To her, the only “real world” was the one she knew in the forest. But maybe Henry didn’t need to be dragged into all of that just yet.

It was when Henry started to ask after other people he knew that Regina realized how out of her depth she was here. She’d heard Emma talk about all of these people, but she didn’t know any of them herself. Except for the Queen, of course, but she wasn’t willing to talk about her. And then Henry asked about a pirate named Hook, or Killian, and whether Emma had seen him, and what he was doing, and it became clear to Regina that this was The Boyfriend. And that gave her pause. They were going to find Emma, that wasn’t up for negotiation. But was she then going to keep helping them to reset things? Henry was here now - couldn’t she and Emma and Henry just build a life here? Sure, the Queen was a tyrant, but they’d all kind of settled into a rhythm of staying out of her way. It sounded like things were always going wrong in Storybrooke, and more importantly, this Hook character would remember his past and undoubtedly want to take up with Emma again. Couldn’t Emma be happy here with her?

“Mom?” Henry broke Regina out of her daydreaming.

She shivered. “I don’t know if I can handle you calling me that,” she said. “I know you remember me as your mother, but I’ve only just met you.”

“OK…” he said slowly. “But I’m not calling you Regina. That’s too weird.”

Regina smiled. “Well, I think that just leaves ‘hey you,’ then.” She laughed when Henry’s grin lit up his face just like Emma’s did.

“OK, fine,” Henry said. “Hey You, I might have an idea about how to find Ma.”

“I’m open to just about anything right now,” Regina said with a sigh.

“Well, you seem to have covered everything in the forest, and you said your people couldn’t find her in the castle?”

Regina nodded.

“What if they took her out someplace farther, like to another kingdom?”

Regina thought for a moment. “No, that’s not like Snow. She wouldn’t let a valuable prisoner fall into the hands of another ruler.”

She sat up taller as an idea occurred to her. “But you may be on to something. Snow has always maintained a robust fleet of ships, and maybe she has access to islands off shore. Henry! That has to be it! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before.”

“You think she’s on an island?”

“I think it’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while.”

His face brightened. “Then all we need is a ship!”

“Right.”

“Well that’s easy - let’s just find Hook.”

Regina barely suppressed the sneer at The Boyfriend’s name. Who knew she had such a jealous streak? Luckily the facts were on her side.

“He doesn’t know who Emma is, so why would he help us?”

Henry seemed undeterred. “We’ll just have to make him think it’s a good idea,” he chirped, standing up. “When was the last time you saw him?”

 

***

Ten days later, Regina found herself crouching in the woods as close as she dared to the tavern at the edge of town, waiting anxiously for Henry to return from his recruitment mission. Operation Swan, as he called it, hinged on his ability to convince a pirate that it was in his best interest to steal a sloop from the docks and sail them in an unknown direction to break a highly valued prisoner out of a secret prison. Regina wasn’t exactly holding her breath. 

It had been nice having Henry around, though. He was an exceptionally charming child, which, now that she thought about it, was a point in his favor in terms of this not being the worst idea in the world. But somehow it also made her miss Emma even more. Regina had never been happy alone, but it was much worse after she remembered what it was like to have someone, and then had that someone taken away. She missed Emma’s laughter, and the feel of their limbs tangled together at night, and the way Emma looked at her like she wanted to know absolutely everything about her. 

Regina shivered in her spot in the woods, thinking of Emma locked up in a cold, dark tower someplace. Just then Henry came bounding back towards her. Regina stood up and saw that against all odds, a scrawny pirate clad in all black was trailing uncertainly behind him. 

“Would you look at that,” she said. “You did it.”

Henry grinned proudly at her. “Killian agreed to help,” he said.

“On one condition,” the pirate interrupted.

“Right,” Henry said. Regina raised her eyebrows. “We just have to let him keep the boat when we’re done.”

Regina laughed. “I’m sure that can be arranged, pirate.”

The pirate, who had been eyeing her, apparently found some courage and asked, “You’re the Bandit Regina, aren’t you?”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

He shook his head quickly.  _ This was what Emma had thought she was in love with?  _ Regina pushed that thought away.

“Well then, let’s get going. We need to be in place by nightfall.”

 

Whatever else the pirate was, thankfully he was an excellent sailor, and after bribing the night watchmen with stolen gold it was no problem at all to slip into one of the little fishing sloops moored at the docks, push off, and set sail. She and Henry rowed for a while to get them out of the harbor, and then they caught the wind, sailing off due West. The ship Killian was serving on had passed a group of rocky islands that way, and he figured it was as good a place as any to start searching. For the first time in a very long time, Regina let herself hope.

The islands turned out to be fairly close in, and after only three hours of sailing, they approached the first one. There was a little outcrop of rocks on one side that looked like a promising place to tie up the boat and go ashore. Killian wanted to stay with the boat, but Regina was convinced he would just disappear with it, so after a bare minimum of threatening his physical safety, all three of them scrambled onto shore and went off in search of, well, anything. 

Henry was the first one to spot the ironwork door in a cliff about halfway around the perimeter. Regina’s heart beat faster and faster as she inspected the lock and the hinges. This had to be it. It had to be! She drew her dagger and carefully inserted it into the space between the pin and the hinge, levering upwards. As the pin slowly crept out of the socket, she and Henry shared a wide-eyed look. Killian bent down to work on the lower hinge, and after a few agonizing moments of force, the door burst open. A wave of cold, stale air wafted out at them, and Regina took an involuntary step back. 

“You’re actually going in there?” Killian asked as Regina rummaged in her bag for the tinder box and torch she’d brought.

“Yes, and so are you,” she said, and thrust the torch into his hand. “Hold that still while I light it.”

He looked like he was about to run, but complied. Henry peered anxiously into the dark. 

“Henry,” Regina said sternly, “You stay between me and Killian. Anything bad happens, you run back to the boat, OK?”

Henry nodded. Regina noted that despite how terrified he looked, he didn’t miss a beat as they stepped into the darkness. He certainly was Emma’s son.

The tunnel they entered went about 8 feet before turning sharply left, then right, and then finally started to climb steadily upwards. Regina was thankful there were no turn-offs to keep track of, so she just kept walking, the light from the torch flickering onto mossy walls and the occasional dead rat. It was so silent that she started to wonder if the place was, in fact, abandoned. But then they rounded a corner and came face to face with a door with bars over a tiny window at top. She glanced back at her traveling companions before standing on her toes to peer through the window.

At first she couldn’t see anything, but as her eyes adjusted to the half-light, she could make out a figure lying on the ground. And, oh, Gods, the person shifted, and Regina saw matted blonde hair spill out from under the thin blanket, and a then she spied a flash of red and blue cloth looped around a pale wrist. 

“Emma,” she breathed. 

The figure stirred, and Emma opened her eyes. She looked around, and Regina told herself to say something. But her voice caught in her throat.

“Hey you,” Henry whispered behind her. “What do you see?”

Regina whipped her head around, his tiny whisper piercing through her and mobilizing her again.

“It’s her,” she said. 

Henry’s triumphant smile gave Regina the spark she needed to get to work. She motioned for Killian to give Henry the torch, and the two of them went to work on the door. Emma was making no noise inside, but Regina couldn’t worry about that right now. The door wasn’t budging. She sat back on her heels in frustration, and then turned around to as Henry moved away, taking the light with him. But when he turned back, he was dangling a ring of keys.

“Maybe these will work?” he said with a huge grin.

“Well. I feel stupid,” said Killian. 

Regina privately agreed, but there was no time for that. She snatched the keys from Henry and tried each of them until one clicked, and the heavy bolt creaked open. She pushed the door and walked into the cell.

Emma looked up, her eyes widening and her mouth hanging open in shock.

“Regina?” she whispered.

“Emma,” cried Regina, and flung herself onto the ground to gather Emma up in her arms. She was much too thin, and covered in grime, but she was here. She was alive. Emma clung to her tunic as soon as she could, and Regina could hear her quietly sobbing into her shoulder. She rocked back and forth a little, soothing Emma with gentle hands on her hair. 

“Emma,” she whispered over and over again, the name like a balm to them both. “My sweet Emma.”

Eventually Emma’s sobs coalesced into words, and Regina heard her mumble out, “you found me.”

Regina leaned back, cupping Emma’s cheek. She tried to fill that simple physical connection with all the love and tenderness she felt for this woman.

“I had help,” she said softly, and moved to the side so Emma could see Henry hanging back by the door. He had a dazed expression on his face that melted instantly into relief when Emma looked up and called his name.

“Ma!” he cried, running over to her. She raised her hands to him, causing Regina to finally notice that they were chained to the floor, along with Emma’s feet. She glanced around for the keys, which she had dropped in her haste to get to Emma. She grabbed them and fumbled with the locks a few times before finally getting Emma’s limbs free. Emma hissed in pain when the irons fell off of her wrists, and Regina’s heart constricted in her chest.

“Come on,” she said, “we need to go.”

“How did you get here?” Emma asked in a weak voice.

“We stole a boat,” Henry replied proudly.

Emma stared at him. “What?”

“Later,” Regina interjected. “Are there guards?”

Emma shook her head. “I don’t think so. After the first week they just left me here. Someone brought food and water every now and then, but I never hear anyone outside.”

Regina scooped her arm underneath Emma. “Can you walk?” she murmured. 

Emma tried, and failed. Regina turned to the pirate for help, and the two of them held Emma up as she tried to get her legs to hold her weight after so many weeks chained up. She gripped Regina’s waist hard, whimpering every now and then in pain. It broke Regina’s heart. She had tried so hard to find her, but she couldn’t. And it was tearing her apart to know how much Emma had suffered.

They carried Emma back down the winding pathway, and Regina held her breath the whole time. But nobody came running after them, and the beach was as deserted when they got back to the boat as it had been when they’d left. Regina figured chaining someone to the floor of a tower on a remote island was probably enough to keep them from running. She only hoped they could get far enough away before the Queen noticed she was missing. They settled Emma in the bow, and shoved off into the water as dawn started to rise around them. Nobody said anything as they rowed hard away from the rocks, the only sound around them the gentle lapping of the waves against the side of the boat. Regina helped Killian get the sail up, and then he nodded to her that she was free to tend to Emma. Regina sat down next to her, and Emma immediately curled into her side, laying her head on her lap and circling her waist with her arms.

“You found me,” she said again.

“I’m sorry it took so long, my love” Regina whispered, once again stroking her hair gently. “I tried everything I could think of.”

“I know,” Emma said, burying her face in Regina’s belly. “I know.”

“Shhh, it’s OK. You’re safe.”

As Regina looked down, she saw the scrap of fabric tied around Emma’s wrist. She traced a finger over it.

“I saved a piece of it,” Emma mumbled. “The rest got lost somewhere.”

“Oh, Emma,” Regina breathed. She didn’t know what else to say.

Emma took a deep breath, and in no time at all had fallen asleep. Regina held her, smiling sadly at Henry, who watched them carefully before turning away to help with the boat. 


	10. Home

Emma was asleep. She was dreaming. She had to be. She dreamt that Regina had found her, broken her out of prison and sailed away from this damned island. It was a good dream, and when she felt herself starting to wake, she screwed her eyes shut and tried to stay in it as long as she could. She could still smell the salt air, and feel Regina’s hands caressing her oh so gently. She breathed in. Wait a minute. The floor was moving. And the smell of salt hadn’t gone away.

Emma cautiously opened one eye. Regina smiled down at her. Emma gasped and sat up. She grabbed Regina’s hands, putting them to her own face.

“You’re real,” she breathed. “It’s not a dream?”

Regina brushed her face with her fingers. “It’s not a dream. You’re safe, my love. I’m here, and so is your son”

Emma whirled around to Henry.

“Hey kid,” she said. Henry broke into one of his face-splitting grins.

“Hi Ma.”

She stretched out a hand to him, wincing slightly as the sores on her wrists brushed past his coat as she pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you,” she said. Because what else could she say?

“Operation Swan is a success,” Henry said.

Emma smiled a little. “Operation Swan,” she repeated.

“Yup. And it took all three of us to make it happen.”

Three? Emma glanced around. She hadn’t registered the other person who had helped her into the boat earlier. But as her eyes landed on the figure currently holding the rudder of the boat, everything seemed to turn upside down again, and she faltered, suddenly dizzy. It was Hook. Regina grabbed her and helped her lie back down. Emma closed her eyes, willing herself to stay focused on reality. But after weeks upon weeks of solitude, it was hard. She grabbed Regina’s hand, the physical connection helping to ground her. What was Hook doing with Henry? And Regina? She knew of course that he didn’t know who she was, but that only made it stranger. But she couldn’t … her mind couldn’t put it all together. It was too much. It was all too much! Panic started to flood her system, and she felt the familiar shaking begin in her abdomen. 

“Regina,” she whispered, as she had so many nights. But this time, someone responded.

“I’m here, my love.” 

Emma curled herself into a ball, laying her head back down on Regina’s lap. She was dimly aware of Regina explaining to Henry that he had to let her rest. Emma focused on the warmth under her skin, the smell of the salt air, the feel of the wind rushing past her face. Little by little the panic subsided until she could breathe evenly again. And Regina was still there, holding her.

“Regina -” she said, intending to ask how they’d found her. But before she could finish that thought, her entire system was suddenly flooded with energy, tingling and coursing through her like cold, refreshing water. She gasped, first in fear, and then in the most intense relief she’d ever felt. She could breathe again. She could feel her limbs again. She could … she could do magic again. She waved a hand through the air, and sighed as a trail of faint sparks flew out behind it. She focused her eyes again, looking at Regina.

“Emma, what happened?” Regina was saying.

Emma smiled at her. “I got my magic back,” she said, and even her voice sounded more like hers. She closed her eyes, focusing in on that low level vibration in her belly that she’d come to associate with her magic. She hadn’t fully realized how much she physically relied on it until it was gone. Now, she pulled it up and through her body, feeling it energize her from the inside out. The sores on her wrists started to ease, her head cleared, and she stretched her legs out, feeling the blood start to flow through them normally.

She opened her eyes to three faces staring at her as if she’d just sprouted wings or something. She supposed this sudden recovery was just as unbelievable.

“There was something blocking my magic on the island,” she explained. “We must have crossed the barrier.”

“You look so much better,” Regina said.

“I feel so much better.” Emma looked around the boat as she continued to trail little sparks through the air. 

She stood up, experimentally, and when she was steady enough on her feet, walked over to Henry to pull him into a big bear hug.

“I missed you so much, kid,” she said. “Where have you been? How come you know who I am? And how the hell did you find Regina and Hook?”

Henry hugged her back, and then he started talking. Emma quickly realized he wasn’t about to stop anytime soon, so she let him chatter away about everything, even if she was only able to absorb about half of what he said. It was enough just to watch him talk. And it was even more to do it with Regina’s arm around her back. Regina didn’t seem to want to let her get more than a foot away, and Emma wasn’t complaining. The gentle touch, and Henry’s smiling face had her feeling more human by the minute. With her magic helping things along, her mind was starting to catch up with what was happening. She had tried to keep herself sane while locked up - coming up with ways to distract her brain and keep it working. It was beyond a relief to find out that it had worked; it was hard to tell if you were sane or not when you were the only one around.

But even as she soaked in the joy of just being with her family again, her eyes were drawn to Hook, who was watching them with fascination, but nothing else. He didn’t know her. He didn’t know any of them. While on the one hand she was grateful to not have to explain Regina to him, it was a stark reminder of their situation here. This world wasn’t real, and Emma needed to put things right. Seeing her mother as the Evil Queen had put to rest any delusions Emma had of this being a benign alternate reality. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be, and despite everything, she had an obligation to fix it. 

So when Henry got to the part about his theory on how to break them out of this cursed story, her ears perked up.

“Wait, kid,” she said. “Go back. Say that again.”

“The Author said that if we reach the end of the story, then we’re trapped here forever. But if we can change the story, maybe it’ll go back to the way things were.”

“How do we change the story?”

“I don’t know yet. We have to figure out how it’s supposed to end, and then do something different.”

“Any ideas?”

Henry shrugged. Emma looked at Regina, who shook her head. 

“I wonder if it’s all about Gold,” Emma mused.

“Gold?” Regina asked.

“Sorry, Rumplestiltskin here.”

“Ugh.”

Emma smiled. “Glad to know some things are the same.”

“My alter ego doesn’t like him either?” Regina asked.

“It’s pretty complicated, but no,” said Emma.

“Good. He’s a sniveling obnoxiously self-important busybody who really should learn to keep his nose in his own affairs.”

Emma and Henry shared an amused look, and for a moment everything felt normal. 

But then Hook pointed out that they were almost back to the mainland, and it was time to decide what to do. Regina suggested they try to get as far into the forest as possible and hide out at her camp until they had a better sense of what to do. Emma agreed, and so Hook found an out-of-the-way cove to pull into to let them off. He tipped his hat goodbye, and paddled away without a second look. Emma didn’t know what she was feeling about him at this point, but even so it was intensely disconcerting to have him just leave like that. But when Regina took her hand with Henry walking in front of them, everything made sense for a few seconds, so Emma focused on that. 

They skirted the edge of town along the water until they found the path that passed by the tavern before leading to the forest. Emma didn’t think she could safely get them all there with magic yet, so instead they opted for good old fashioned sneaking around. They had just gotten within sight of the tavern, when Regina stopped, throwing her arm out to make Emma and Henry stop too. She put a finger to her lips, and pointed to the side of the road.

Emma pushed Henry in front of her and followed Regina to a likely looking hiding spot. She held her breath as the sound of footsteps finally registered in her mind. And then an achingly familiar but horrifyingly distorted voice rang out from the path they had just left.

“Going somewhere?” It was the Queen.

Regina had no sooner drawn her bow that an army of knights emerged from the trees, surrounding them. Seriously, there had to be 50 of them. Emma reacted instantly. She grabbed Henry and Regina with one arm, and used her other to try to transport them away. But she was right to think her magic wasn’t quite up for it yet. She got them about 20 feet away, just far enough to be outside the circle of knights, but nowhere near safe.

“Seize them,” the Queen shouted.

Maybe it was the suddenness of the command, or the fear of Emma’s magic, but the nearest knight raised his bow without hesitation, letting an arrow fly directly at her. Emma tried to dart out of the way, but found herself flung to the ground instead. Regina collapsed on top of her as soon as she hit the ground. Emma twisted, trying to help Regina back up at the same time as trying to spring to her feet. But Regina just lay there. And then Emma saw dark red seeping from her tunic, and registered that an arrow was lodged in her stomach. Emma scrambled up onto her knees and leaned over her.

“No, no!” she stammered. “Regina!”

Regina reached for her, and Emma caught her outstretched hand, bringing it close to her own heart. Henry was crouching next to her, so Emma grabbed at him with her other hand, needing to keep him close. The knight who had shot was being reprimanded by his commander behind her, but nobody else was bothering them for the moment. Emma let go of Henry and ripped open Regina’s tunic. The arrow was buried deep in her gut, and even Emma’s limited knowledge of medicine told her that Regina wasn’t going to make it unless she did something right this second. So she put her fingers on the arrow shaft and concentrated, trying to vanish it with her magic. It didn’t budge. 

“Emma,” Regina whimpered.

Emma abandoned her task for the moment to take Regina’s hand again. “I’m here,” she whispered. “Regina, stay with me. Don’t leave me. Please.”

Regina’s eyes rolled as she started to gasp in pain. 

“No!” Emma shouted. “Regina, just hold on! I’ll fix it, I’ll fix it! Don’t leave me.” 

But Regina was fading. She could see it. And suddenly Emma had no fight left. Her magic was useless. She was useless. So she leaned as close as she could, and whispered the only words she could think to say: “I love you.”

Regina went still. Emma scanned her body furiously and she could see that Regina was still breathing, but barely.

“Ma,” Henry said quietly. She looked at him. “Kiss her.”

Emma sucked in a breath. She didn’t know if it would help, but Henry was right - she had to try it. She leaned forward, whispered “I love you” again, and kissed Regina carefully on the lips.

She felt the magic burst into her heart, travel up and through the tenuous connection between her and Regina, and then flood back into her system. She gasped as a bright white light surrounded them for half a second. She blinked her eyes, and gradually the scene in front of her resolved into the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen: Main Street in Storybrooke. Emma looked down. Regina was lying on the ground in front of her, dressed as the Mayor again. She seemed to still be unconscious, but the arrow was gone, and Emma couldn’t see any blood.

“Regina?” she whispered, practically shaking with fear and hope.

Regina’s eyes fluttered open. “Emma?” she rasped.

Emma grabbed Regina’s hands and pulled them into her chest. Emma felt Regina’s fingers tighten around her own as she started to try to sit up. Emma untangled one hand to help her, keeping the other one right where it was. She was on her knees on the pavement, and apparently at some point she’d started crying, but she didn’t care. Regina was here, she was alive, Emma herself was free, and they were back.

“Emma,” Regina said, her voice so kind and gentle, it made Emma cry harder. Regina put her hand to Emma’s cheek, wiping away her tears even as they continued to fall.

“You’re alright,” Emma whispered.

“I’m alright.”

Emma looked down, once again taking in Regina’s outfit. “And you’re … you again?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes, Miss Swan, I’m me again.”

Belatedly, Emma thought to wonder if Regina even remembered everything that had happened. Oh God, what if she didn’t? What if she had no idea why Emma was fussing over her like this? What if…?

“Emma,” Regina’s voice cut through the panic that was evidently showing on her face. “Look at me.”

Emma looked at her.

“I remember everything,” Regina whispered. “I love you.”

Emma gasped, her mind suddenly supplying snippets of conversation where Regina had called her “my love,” and realizing that she’d meant it. Emma’s heart leapt in her chest as she struggled to come up with something to say. She wanted to say I love you, too, but even though she’d just said it, somehow the words stuck in her mouth, and then retreated even farther as she saw her parents and Hook come running down the street. Emma flinched, and then hated herself for flinching. This was her mother - not the Evil Queen Snow who had locked her up. And Hook! What in the hell was she going to say to him?

Emma looked back at Regina, watching her so expectantly, and felt the panic engulf her. She crumpled in on herself, scrambling to stand up as she backed away.

“Emma?” Regina asked, following her up to standing.

But Emma couldn’t answer. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t handle any of this. So she ran. Literally. She turned away from everyone looking at her and wanting something from her and ran as fast as she could. She heard them yelling after her, and just ran faster. 

She turned down a side street, slowing to a jog but not stopping. The movement seemed to even out the bursts of adrenaline coursing through her system, so she kept running even when she had a stitch in her side and her knees were aching from the impact of her boots on the pavement. 

She ran until she saw the town line that was still spray-painted on the road, finally stopping when she reached it. As much as she had needed to flee, she would never risk leaving town and not being able to come back. Yes, she found herself in a gigantic mess of confusing relationships and anxiety-producing memories layered on top of each other, but this was her family. She wasn’t really leaving. She was just … taking some time. Waiting until she could look at her mother without shuddering, and look Hook in the eye again. Waiting until she could tell Regina how she felt. Emma squeezed her eyes shut as images of Regina’s face as she ran away from her danced in her mind’s eye. She shouldn’t have left like that. Regina had nearly died, and then what did Emma do the minute she was safe? Run. Just like always.

With that thought, a crushing weight settled onto Emma’s chest. She had fucked up. Badly. She turned to slump back to town, but after about 10 steps, she heaved a sigh and just flicked her hand to transport herself back to wherever her bug had ended up. She arrived next to it, got in, and took off towards the beach. No way in hell was she going to her parent’s place right now, and she wasn’t ready to face Regina or Hook. She’d just stay in her car for a while until she figured things out. Nothing she hadn’t done before.

 

***

 

Emma didn’t really sleep that night, and she couldn’t say what she did the next day, either. She just drifted around the outskirts of town, feeling her heart ache and ignoring her phone. Snow called about once an hour. Then Henry called her twice (probably at Snow’s suggestion). She assumed Hook would have called if he could figure out how. Regina didn’t call. Emma knew she shouldn’t expect that - not after she ran away from her like that. But it was Regina who occupied most of her swirling, maddening thoughts, and Regina whose name she whispered when she huddled in the backseat of her car at 3am and tried, again, to fall asleep. She didn’t cry, but wanted to. She didn’t sleep. She barely ate.

And then when another sunrise crept over the horizon, something shifted inside her. Emma got up. She called Ruby, who let her into one of the rooms at Granny’s to take a shower, handing her a towel and a bag with a muffin and coffee without asking any questions. Emma thanked her, and ducked inside to try to make herself presentable. After showering, she combed her hair, pulled it into a ponytail, and then sat there staring at herself in the mirror. She looked at what was left of the headband Regina had made her, still tied around her wrist. At some point in her imprisonment she had been stripped of everything, including her headband and the shoelace bracelet, which was now gone. She’d found this scrap in the pile of her clothes that were shoved back at her, presumably after being checked for weapons. She ran her fingers over the fabric. Regina had said that it should remind her that someone cared about her. And now Emma understood that what Regina really meant was that she loved her. And Emma needed that reminder for what she was about to do.

She took a circuitous route to the docks, just so she wouldn’t have to walk down Main Street and risk seeing anyone. Thankfully nobody else was around, and she could step onto the boat that Hook had rented as his home without anyone bothering her.

“Hook?” she called. She heard a bang from below, followed by a string of curses, and then the pirate in question emerged up the stairs.

“Swan,” he said, his face unreadable. “Come to let me down easy, or to have it out?”

She blinked. “What?”

“Well given nearly three days of complete silence I didn’t assume you were here for drink.”

Emma looked down at her boots and sighed. She didn’t know what to say. He was right, of course, but now she just felt even more guilty for having left him hanging, too. 

“Come on, Swan,” he said, his voice softer. “Let’s have a drink anyway.”

He turned and walked down the stairs without waiting for an answer. It was 10 in the morning, but hell if Emma didn’t really like the sound of some rum right now. She followed him down.

He sat at the little corner booth and grabbed her a glass. She inclined her head in thanks, belatedly realizing that he hadn’t tried to offer her the flask like he usually did. The guilt mounted. This actually might have been easier if he had been less of a gentleman about it.

“So,” he said, “quite a lot to take in, yeah?”

She huffed in response. “That’s the understatement of the century.”

He grinned at her as she sipped at the rum, letting the fiery liquid settle into her veins.

“It felt like over six months,” she said finally, looking down at the table and pushing her glass around. “I mean, it’s fading now, but at the time, six months went by.”

“Aye,” he said. “Longest I’ve been sober since I was a lad.”

She looked up and couldn’t help a small smile at that. 

“See, Swan? It’s not that bad.”

She shook her head at him. “How are you so calm about all of this?”

His grin faded. “I’m not, really. Just trying to make the best of it. It was a long six months for me, too.”

“Yeah, what were you doing all that time?” she asked.

“Serving as a deckhand,” he said derisively. “A very sober, very boring deckhand.”

Emma smiled a little at his tone. “Didn’t like taking orders from someone else?”

“No, Swan. No I did not.”

She laughed then, and a tiny bit of the tension in her body eased. She looked at him, and decided to just get it over with. “I guess I’m here to let you down easy,” she said.

He nodded once, then drank deeply from the flask. Emma hesitated. He deserved the truth. Even if Regina never looked at her again, he was being so understanding about this, and she had almost loved him, once. She still cared for him, and he deserved to know what was going on.

“I fell in love with Regina,” she said, then inhaled sharply. She really hadn’t meant to say it like that.

“I thought so,” he said. “I was there, you know, Swan,” he continued when she looked at him in surprise. “I saw you kiss her and the magic that brought us back. I know that was True Love’s Kiss.”

Emma chewed on her bottom lip. She felt like she was going to cry for real this time, and she really didn’t want to do that.

“Hey,” Hook said gently, and Emma gave him a lot of credit that he didn’t try to reach out to touch her. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Emma hesitated, swallowing past the lump in her throat. Weirdly, she did actually want to talk to him. One of the reasons she’d enjoyed dating him was that they got each other. He was broken and scarred and defensive, too, but full of love and passion. They’d worked for a while. But what she felt for Regina, well, it was just  _ more  _ than what she’d felt for him. It was deeper, and more raw. And it hurt more to think about losing her.

“Do you really want to hear about this?” she asked.

“No,” he said, but grinned as he took another drink. “But I think I’ve had enough rum to stomach it.”

She rolled her eyes, and held out her glass for a refill. “You’re going to drink yourself to death one of these days.”

“If it hasn’t happened yet, it’s not going to,” he countered.

She smiled. “I’ll keep it light on the details.”

He held up his flask in a toast. They drank, and Emma took a deep breath. She launched into the whole story, about how she’d met Regina in the woods, how Regina had saved her life and nursed her back to health, and then how they’d fallen in love and shared a blissful couple of months together before she was captured and imprisoned. Here she paused, and wiped at her face. She’d started to cry without really noticing. 

“It was awful, Killian,” she whispered. “I was locked up alone for days on end, and then someone would come toss some food and water in and leave. It was weeks before you guys found me, I think. I lost track.”

He nodded slowly. “And you made it through. What kept you going?”

Emma took the handkerchief he offered her. “My family,” she said quietly. “I pictured each of them in as much detail as I could, and told myself stories about them. My magic was dampened, but not gone, and I think that helped, too. I recited a lot of shit I learned in grade school, too.”

“You kept your mind active,” he said. “That was smart.”

“And I thought about Regina,” she said in barely more than a whisper, the name sounding odd in this context. “And when you all rescued me, there was a moment where I wasn’t sure if you were real. But then you were, and we escaped, and then…”

“And then you watched her die,” he supplied.

Emma nodded, unable to speak. 

“Swan,” Hook said, shifting on the bench. “I don’t think anyone is going to fault you for needing some space and time to heal after all that.” He leaned towards her. “But you have to tell her that.”

Emma looked down. “I know,” she mumbled. “I just … don’t know what to say.”

“Bullshit.”

Emma jerked her head up. “Excuse me?”

“Bullshit, Swan. You know exactly what to say. You’re just scared to say it.”

“I …” but he was right. Fuck, how was it that Hook of all people could know exactly what to say to get through to her stupid scared brain?

“Shit,” she said out loud.

He laughed. “Now there’s the Emma Swan I know.”

He stood up and took her glass away from her. “Go talk to her,” he said. “And don’t come back here until you have.”

Emma really didn’t want to just do as she was told, but also knew he was right. So she rolled her eyes and got up to go. With one hand on the ladder, she turned back towards him.

“Thank you, Killian,” she said. “I hope … I hope we get to stay friends.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s keep in touch and all that,” he said, waving his hand at her. But he winked and smiled, and she knew that they’d be OK once things settled down. She climbed up the ladder and headed for Regina’s house before she could talk herself out of it.

 


	11. Not Alone Anymore

Regina tried everything to get the events of the last three days out of her mind; she focused on her son, she cleaned the kitchen, she drank too much wine, she cleaned the bathrooms, she went for long walks. Nothing worked. She could still feel where the arrow had hit her, despite there not being a physical wound, and it made her shudder to think how close she had been to dying. When she could get her mind off her own mortality, though, the sound of Emma’s feet pelting in the other direction as she ran away from her echoed in her mind, and a dull ache settled on her heart. All she wanted was to talk to Emma, to hear what was going on, and to process everything with her. But clearly Emma didn’t want that, as she’d stayed away from everybody since they got back. So Regina did what she did best - she set her shoulders, gathered her hair into a perfectly coiffed updo, and went back to work. The town was in upheaval since they’d all been trapped and then brought back, so there was plenty to do. It didn’t ease her heartache, and she still looked up hopefully every time a car stopped near her house, but at least she had other thoughts to keep her miserable ones company.

At night, she curled herself into a ball, unthinkingly whispering “goodnight, my Emma” just as she had every night in her camp before Henry showed up. But as soon as Emma’s name passed her lips, she’d start crying, and then would berate herself. Emma wasn’t hers anymore. Regina had told her she loved her, and Emma had run away from her. And then disappeared. 

By the time it had been two full days and even Snow hadn’t seen Emma, Regina started to get worried. As she lay in bed that night, she once again curled in on herself, wishing Emma were there with her. And then her worry and her sadness solidified into anger. What the hell did Emma think she was doing, hiding like this? As if she was the only one who was struggling to make sense of everything that had happened? Regina shook her head angrily, drying her tears. This was why she had convinced herself that love was overrated. One way or another, it always ended up hurting too much. She rolled over onto her back, gazing out at the moon, which was almost full and shining into the gap between her curtains. She groaned and rolled onto her side, pulling the covers roughly with her. It was demeaning - pining over a woman like this. She’d survived much worse, and she’d be damned if Emma Swan of all people was going to get to her. With that determined thought clutched tight in her mind, she willed herself asleep.

 

***

It was about noon the next day when the sound of a car stopping in front of her house finally resolved into the crunch of a pair of boots walking up the path, and a tentative knock on the door. Regina held her breath. It was Emma. Nobody else would show up without calling first - she was sure of it. Hope and fear and anger and excitement burst into her chest, and she took a couple of deep, steadying breathes before walking slowly down the hallway stairs to open the door.

Emma looked as bad as she herself felt, and for a minute Regina had an intense urge to just grab her and hold her tight and tell her it was all going to be OK. But as she took a step forward, she caught a whiff of alcohol and started back.

“Miss Swan,” she said coldly, her mind racing through the possibilities, each one more infuriating than the last. 

“Hey, can I come in?” Emma asked, shuffling her feet.

Regina hesitated, but turned around and walked up the stairs without answering. Her anger had won over all the other emotions, and she held herself stiff to keep her magic in check. After so many months without it, she was still a little out of practice reigning it in when her emotions got too intense. Like now, for example. She heard Emma follow as she walked into the kitchen, where she turned around and leaned on the counter, staring Emma down. 

“How are you?” Emma asked quietly.

Regina barked out a mirthless laugh. “How am I?” she parroted. “How am I?” Regina could hear her voice starting to rise, but she made no attempt to stop it. “You ignore me for days, and then come to my door reeking of alcohol and have the gall to ask how am I? How do you think I am, Emma?!” She was just about yelling now, and damn if it didn’t feel good.

Emma ducked her head. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“You’re damn right you’re sorry,” Regina replied, and suddenly she couldn’t handle it anymore. “What did you think you were doing? You think you’re the only one who suffered? I almost died, Emma!”

At that, Emma whipped her head up. “And I watched you die! After spending weeks locked up in that prison, Regina!”

“You don’t think I know that?!” Regina advanced on Emma across the kitchen. “I looked for you for two months straight.”

“Before you gave up?” Emma cut in, staring her down. Regina caught her breath. She wasn’t wrong, but at this moment Regina was too angry for her guilt to have any traction.

“We’ve both been through hell, Emma,” she said, tempering her anger enough to sound reasonable. “You could have come to talk to me about it.”

“And you could have tried to find me!” Emma yelled back.

And just like that, Regina’s patience broke. “Get out,” she said, her voice cold. “If you’re going to sit there waiting for someone to come rescue you instead of asking for help like an adult, then you can keep waiting. Get out of my house.”

Emma left. Regina heard her slam the door, then the roar of a car engine faded into the distance. It seemed to take all of her anger with it, and she slumped back against the wall. What had she done? She’d been waiting days to hear from Emma and then she pushed her away as soon as she showed up. Regina sank down onto the floor and put her head on her knees, squeezing her eyes closed as if she could shut it all out that way. She remembered sitting on the floor of her office in a similar position the first time she’d felt her heart reach out to Emma. Emma had assured her that she was going to fight for her happy ending, too. And Regina had believed her, even under the layers of sadness and shame and fear. She hadn’t known it at the time, but that was the first step towards her slow realization of just how much Emma meant to her. It may have taken living in an alternate reality to get it, but she’d been falling in love with Emma a little bit at a time for years. And now she’d lost her one chance of being with her.

Her phone rang from her back pocket, making her jump at the unexpected sound. It was Snow. Against her better judgement, she answered - Henry was with them.

“Snow, is everything alright?” she said, trying to sound normal.

“You tell me. I just saw Emma driving about 60 miles an hour down Mifflin street. Is everything OK?”

Regina tried to answer calmly, she really did. But she was too upset, and the memory of Snow as the Queen who had tried to kill her for years hadn’t entirely faded.

“No, Snow, everything is not OK. Your imbecile of a daughter decided she’d go get herself drunk at 11 in the morning and then show up at my house offering nothing but weak excuses for everything she put me through.”

“She what? Regina, what is going on? Nobody will give me a straight answer about anything.”

“Maybe it’s because we don’t trust you, Snow,” Regina spat, and instantly regretted it. She of all people had no right to put that on her. She sighed into the silence on the phone. “I’m sorry, that was undeserved. You were cursed. We all were.”

“Emma wasn’t.” 

Regina let that sink in. Emma hadn’t lost her memories - she had known exactly what was happening the whole time. She had … known exactly who Regina was the whole time, and even though she hadn’t said it, Regina knew that at least at some point, Emma had loved her. And then she thought back to things Emma had told her cursed self about how she’d forgiven Regina and how important that was to her. And Regina had just denied Emma exactly that.

“Oh,” she said quietly, her shoulders slumping forward. “Snow, I’ve made everything worse.”

“I doubt that,” Snow replied. “If I know my daughter, she probably deserved everything you said to her. Although, I also know you and you probably could have said it better.”

Regina didn’t reply. What was there to say to an entirely correct assessment of the fight they’d just had?

“So what’s happening between you?” Snow prompted.

Did she really not know? Regina took a deep breath. 

“Emma and I …” but she couldn’t say it. Whatever else Snow was to her, she was also Emma’s mother, and this felt entirely inappropriate to say to her.

“What?” Snow asked. “You haven’t fought like this since she first got to Storybrooke. What happened between you during the curse?”

Regina squeezed her eyes shut again and made herself answer, as if telling Snow was her penance for hurting Emma. “We fell in love, Snow. We fell in love, and then she was captured and I couldn’t find her. And then everything happened at the end there, and she saved my life, and when we got back she ran away from me. Ran! And I haven’t heard from her since, until she showed up on my doorstep today, smelling like alcohol and telling me she was sorry.”

Regina paused, but Snow didn’t say anything, so Regina kept going.

“And then I yelled at her for ignoring me for three days, and she yelled at me for not coming to find her, and then … and then I threw her out.”

Saying it all out loud, she could hear how wrong she’d been to react like that. Emma was hurt, and she was trying, and Regina hadn’t helped at all.

“I see,” Snow said slowly. “Thank you for telling me. Henry kept saying I had to ask you and Emma what happened, and now I see why.”

Regina waited for more of a reaction, but it didn’t come.

“I’ll talk to Emma,” Snow said. “Can you tell me where to find her?”

“Why would I know where she drove off to?” Regina snapped.

Snow waited. Regina sighed.

“Sorry. She likes to drive to this overlook in the woods about a mile east of the playground. That’s my guess.”

“Thank you,” Snow said. “I’ll get her to talk to you.”

And with that, she hung up. Regina sat staring at her phone. Of everything that had happened that day, that phone call might have been the most confusing.

 

***

The next day, when Regina had just about given up on Snow’s promise to get Emma to talk to her, she once again heard the sound of a car pulling up in front of her house. A few minutes later, she heard Emma walking slowly up the path, and a few minutes after that, there was finally a knock on the door. Regina counted to 10, as if she hadn’t been hovering in the entryway waiting for her, and opened the door.

Emma stood there with a bouquet of flowers clutched in one hand, hanging down at her side. She was chewing on her bottom lip and looking at Regina with eyes full of a myriad of emotions. Regina’s heart melted at the sight. After a moment’s hesitation, she wordlessly took the flowers out of Emma’s hand and motioned for Emma to follow her inside, walking over to the kitchen to find a vase. She took the flowers out of the wrapping, cut them carefully, and filled the vase with water. They still hadn’t said a word to each other.

Regina placed the flowers on the counter and turned to look at Emma, who was still chewing on her lip. Regina clasped her hands together, trying not to fidget. By that morning she had pretty much convinced herself that Emma was done with her, and that their time together was an anomaly - a trick of her being a different person with different memories in that other world. Here, the past and the present offered a million reasons why Regina should just get used to being alone. But then Emma showed up, carrying flowers and looking nervous. And now Regina didn’t know what to think. So she waited, willing herself to look confident, and not like the anxious mess she felt like inside.

Eventually, Emma heaved a sigh. “I’m so sorry, Regina,” she said, looking down at her feet. “I shouldn’t have left you hanging like that.”

Regina’s breath caught. She swallowed. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

“I just, I needed time to process everything,” Emma went on, edging closing to her. “But I should have told you that. And … I’m sorry.”

Regina tried to keep it together, she really did. But her resolve melted away when Emma looked up and finally met her eyes, letting Regina see her own fear mirrored in Emma’s gaze. She reached out a hand, which Emma took, and Regina pulled her forward so they could wrap their arms around each other. She held on tight, breathing in Emma’s familiar scent, letting her body relax into the embrace.

“I missed you,” Emma whispered into Regina’s neck. 

Regina threaded her fingers through Emma’s hair. She realized that Emma wasn’t just talking about the past three days when she felt tears start to soak into her collar from where Emma was now crying into her shoulder.

“My sweet Emma,” Regina said softly.

Emma’s arms gripped her tighter, and she let out a sob. “I was afraid I’d never hear you call me that again,” she said.

“Oh, Emma,” Regina breathed. “My sweet Emma. You’re safe now.”

Emma pulled back at that, her eyes searching Regina’s face. “Did you mean it?” she asked.

“Mean what?” Regina asked.

Emma hesitated. “When we first got back. You told me that you … you still…” she trailed off.

Regina put her hand up to Emma’s cheek, smiling as Emma leaned into it immediately. She knew what Emma meant, and tried to finish Emma’s sentence for her, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to say it. Hope had been rekindled in her heart, but she couldn’t trust it fully. Not yet. So she settled for nodding.

Emma’s face brightened, and she put her hand over Regina’s, which was still resting gently on her face. 

“Me too,” Emma whispered.

Regina’s heart soared. Yes, she wanted to hear Emma say it, and she wanted to say it back. But this was enough for now. She leaned forward to finally kiss Emma’s lips, sighing as Emma kissed her back readily. Emma held her close, kissing her and brushing her lips over Regina’s face, and then coming back to her mouth and kissing her again. Regina felt her limbs tingling with relief and a desire to stay right where she was.

Eventually, though, the many unanswered questions that had been swirling around made their way to the top of her mind, and she turned her face away, resting her forehead onto Emma’s shoulder. She felt Emma’s fingers tracing figures on her back, and let herself just enjoy the sensation for another moment. 

But she needed to talk. She needed to know where they stood. So she raised her eyes to look at Emma, and tried to pretend they were back in her camp, telling each other secrets and finding ways that their bodies fit together. 

“I’m not … I’m not the same person as I was there,” she said finally. It wasn’t at all what she’d meant to say, but now that it was out, she might as well keep going. “And we’ve both been through so much.” She paused. “Are you sure?”

Emma smiled at her sadly. “I know. Things are complicated. But Regina, I want to be with you. I want to find out how we might work here. And, well, magic doesn’t exactly lie, does it?”

Regina furrowed her brow. “Magic?” she repeated.

“You know, kissing you to break the spell and all that.”

Regina’s eyes widened as understanding flooded her mind. Why hadn’t she realized that’s what happened? Why hadn’t she asked anybody what had happened? What kind of insane mental block had kept her from understanding that Emma had saved her, saved them all, with true love’s kiss?

Emma clearly saw all of this happen, and smiled for real. “You didn’t know?” she asked.

Regina shook her head. 

“Henry didn’t tell you?”

Regina shook her head again. “I didn’t ask,” she said.

“Oh, Regina,” said Emma, and she was almost laughing now. “What did you think happened?”

“I’m … I’m not sure I thought about it, honestly.”

Emma got serious again, and her gaze intensified. “I’ll tell you what happened,” she said, her voice low. She took Regina’s hand, and Regina could feel the connection between them spark even in that simple touch. She held her breath in anticipation.

“You jumped in front of an arrow,” Emma said, accompanying her words with a soft kiss to the corner of Regina’s mouth.

“You risked your life to save me.” A kiss to the other corner of her mouth.

“But I couldn’t lose you.” A kiss to one cheek.

“And it was Henry, actually, who told me to kiss you.” A kiss to the other cheek.

“So I did.” A swift kiss to her lips.

“And True Love’s Kiss broke the spell.”

Regina felt like she was under Emma’s spell at the moment, and all she could do was hold her hand tighter.

Emma smiled at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She traced Regina’s mouth with a finger, then bent to kiss where her hand had been. Finally she looked back up. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, and she took a deep breath.

“I love you, Regina,” Emma said quietly. “And I knew exactly who you were when I fell in love with you, even if you didn’t. So let’s give this a try.”

“Emma,” Regina whispered. Her heart was beating so fast she could hear it, and she felt like she was about to drift off into space. It was glorious. She leaned in to kiss Emma one more time before pulling back to say what she’d known for much longer than she cared to admit: “I love you, too.”

Regina first instinct was to haul Emma up to her bedroom right then and there, but it felt more right to cuddle up together on the couch and talk. She asked Emma to tell her what had happened while she was imprisoned, and listened with a heavy heart as Emma recounted the things she did to try to keep herself grounded in reality. In turn, she told Emma about her various failed attempts to find her. Honestly, she thought Emma looked a little relieved when Regina told her how many different things she’d tried - maybe she hadn’t quite trusted that Regina was really trying her best to find her.

By the time they had caught each other up on the past couple months, the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, and Regina had stretched out on the couch with Emma half on top of her. She cradled Emma’s head on her chest, her fingers running through her hair and lightly scratching her head. 

“There’s something I don’t quite understand,” Regina mused, thinking back on everything she now knew. “When you kissed me, what spell were you breaking? Doesn’t the Author’s pen work differently than a curse?”

“I have no idea,” Emma muttered. “We should probably ask our son. Isn’t he the expert on this kind of thing?”

Regina laughed, and then ran her hands down Emma’s back. “Our son,” she repeated, loving the way the words felt on her tongue. Sure, they had probably referred to him that way before, but it meant something different now. 

Emma shifted so she could prop herself up on her elbows. “Who, by the way, is one perceptive kid. All it took was him watching you take care of me after you broke me out of prison to think that maybe true love’s kiss would work.”

“Henry’s always picked up on things nobody else would notice.”

Emma nodded. “We should probably talk to him. You know, about us.”

Regina smiled. “Probably. What should we tell him?”

“I don’t know, Regina, what should we tell him?” said Emma, and Regina was delighted to hear a note of playfulness come back into her voice. 

“That his mothers fell in love while one of them was under a curse?”

Emma wrinkled her nose. “That makes it sound like something really sketchy.”

“But it’s true,” Regina said with a chuckle.

That made Emma get serious again. “Is that how you think of it?” she asked.

Regina held her tighter around her waist and gave her a quick kiss. “No,” she whispered. “I mean, I didn’t have my memories at the time, but I do remember everything now.” She hesitated, but Emma deserved the truth. “And if I’m honest, I’ve had feelings for you for much longer than that.”

The sly grin that spread over Emma’s face was absolutely worth the discomfort of telling that particular truth.

“Oh really?” Emma said, shifting so she could press her hips into Regina’s. Regina felt her body start to liven up again. “And when were you going to tell me about these feelings?”

“Never. You were with Hook.”

“True.”

“Speaking of…” Regina said. She’d assumed Emma had talked to Hook, but also, it was Emma, so she should probably make sure. 

Emma cut her off: “I already told him we’re done.”

“How did he take it?”

“Fine.” Emma paused. “Actually, he’s the reason I got up the courage to come talk to you in the first place.”

Regina stilled her hands, which had been lazily tracing over Emma’s shoulders, and looked up.

“That morning I came to talk to you, and I smelled like alcohol?” Emma continued. “I’d gone to break up with him, and we ended up having a drink and a really good conversation about things.”

Regina couldn’t help the jealousy that reared up in her, and she heard her voice get cold. “Oh really?”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Regina,” she said, placing a kiss on Regina’s cheek. “Don’t worry - we basically just talked about you. He told me that I needed to stop wallowing and just go talk to you.”

“Well,” said Regina curtly, “I suppose that was good advice.”

Emma laughed. “You have a real jealous streak, don’t you?”

“This comes as a surprise?” Regina shot back. This was better. This was like old times - them bantering back and forth while stealing kisses and soft touches. This was what had made her fall for Emma so completely back in her little camp in the woods.

Emma must have felt it, too, because she suddenly bent forward and kissed Regina with an entirely different feeling behind it. It was passionate, and needy, and Regina responded immediately, grabbing at Emma’s back and pulling her closer. When they broke apart, they were both breathing hard. Regina let her desire show in her gaze as she looked up at Emma.

“Come up to my bedroom?” she asked. She wanted Emma, and she wanted Emma in her own bed, where her scent would linger when Regina went to sleep that night.

By way of an answer, Emma climbed off of the couch and held out her hand to help Regina up. Instead of walking away, though, Emma pulled her into her arms as soon as she was standing.

“Can we just take it slow?” she whispered into Regina’s ear, and Regina heard the note of nervousness in her voice.

“Of course, sweetheart,” Regina said.

Emma chuckled. “Sweetheart?” she asked.

“What? You’re happy when I call you ‘sweet Emma’ but I can’t call you sweetheart?”

“You can call me whatever you like, as long as you kiss me like that again.”

Regina smirked, but happily went in for another kiss. She backed Emma up while their lips and tongues melded together, until they were at the doorway of the living room. There she pulled away, took Emma’s hand, and led her up the stairs to her bedroom. She closed the door, just in case. Looking up, she felt herself drawn in by the look on Emma’s face. It was adoring, and lustful, and just everything Regina had ever wanted from a lover. 

She looked into Emma’s eyes while she began to slowly but deliberately undress herself. She pulled off her shirt and her slacks, tossing them over the chair next to her bed. She could almost feel Emma’s gaze on her skin as she reached behind her to unhook her bra and let it drop to the floor. When she had shimmied out of her panties as well, Emma walked up to her. She traced a finger over Regina’s jawline, pressed a quick kiss to her lips, and then backed up to copy Regina’s movements. She tossed aside her sweater and jeans, and Regina could see now that Emma’s body still bore the marks of her time in prison. She was so skinny that her ribs stuck out, as did her hip bones, and when Regina looked closer, she could see faint marks on Emma’s wrists and ankles from the chains that had held her.

Regina stepped closer, stopping Emma from continuing. She took one of Emma’s wrists in her hands and then bent to kiss it.

“Do these hurt?” she asked.

Emma shook her head.

Regina kissed her way up Emma’s arm, and then reached around to take her bra off for her. She let it fall to the floor before bending down to help her out of her underwear as well. When she stood up, she felt her heart swell with love for this beautiful, strong, battle-worn woman standing in front of her. At a loss for words, she pulled Emma back to the bed, where she lay her down on her back and began to run her fingers over every part of her. Regina poured her love into her touch, wanting Emma to feel safe and wanted before she continued to answer the desire that was smouldering inside her.

When Regina came back up from lavishing attention on her belly and hips and legs, she saw that tears were streaming from Emma’s eyes.

“Emma?” she asked.

Emma responded by pulling her down so she could wrap her arms around her. “Thank you,” she whispered. Regina didn’t need to ask for what.

They kissed again, this time slowly and tenderly. Regina shivered at the feel of Emma’s hands running lightly over her skin. Emma tucked her fingers between them and traced down Regina’s ribcage, and Regina jumped when she got to the place she’d been shot with an arrow. She looked up, as surprised as Emma seemed to be at her reaction.

“What was that?” Emma asked.

“That’s where I got hit with the arrow,” Regina answered. 

“Regina, I’m sorry! I didn’t know you still had the wound,” said Emma.

“I don’t. At least I don’t think so.”

She sat up to inspect her own abdomen. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, and when she pressed her own fingers to the spot, she didn’t feel anything. 

“Touch me again,” she said.

Emma sat up too, gently stroked her fingers over the spot, and Regina once again felt that burst of sensation. But now that she was paying attention to it, it wasn’t actually painful. It was quite pleasant, in fact, and felt like … she smiled, remembering exactly what it felt like.

“What?” Emma asked.

“I think there’s some of your magic inside me,” Regina said.

Regina wished she could have taken a picture of the look on Emma’s face. Confusion didn’t even begin to describe the comical expression. She laughed.

“Remember back in my camp, when I asked you to use magic because it made me tingle?”

Emma nodded.

“That’s what this feels like. Must be something about you saving my life.”

Emma looked down, and slowly ran her fingers over the spot again. Regina sucked in a breath, her eyes fluttering closed. 

“Well that’s fun,” said Emma.

Regina opened her eyes and tried to smirk at her, but she was too enraptured with the feeling for it to work, and it probably looked like some kind of ridiculous grin instead. 

Emma stroked the spot one more time, and Regina once again couldn’t keep her eyes open as the incredible sensation of Emma’s magic raced through her system. When she opened her eyes, Emma was watching her with that same mixture of adoration and lust that made Regina absolutely melt.

“Tell me what you want,” Regina whispered. She desperately wanted to pounce - to dig her fingers into Emma’s flesh and leave trails of bite marks all over her skin like she’d done when they were alone in her little cave in the woods. But Emma looked so fragile sitting there, so Regina took her hand, stroking her fingers over the scars on her wrist and waiting for her to answer.

“I’m not sure,” Emma said slowly. She shook her head. “I thought about this moment all the time, when I’d finally have you in my arms again. And now I just … I don’t even know.”

Regina picked up her hand to kiss Emma’s fingers. “Then let me lead,” she said gently. “Tell me the minute something feels uncomfortable, and we’ll stop and check in, OK?”

“OK,” said Emma.

Regina thought for a moment, and then decided to start right where she was. She lowered her eyes to Emma’s fingers, and slowly dragged her lips across each one in turn. She then took one finger in her mouth, sucking gently and running her tongue along it. She heard Emma gasp softly, and was delighted to feel her shift closer so she could put her other arm around Regina’s waist. Regina leaned the few inches forward before releasing Emma’s finger from her mouth so she could kiss her deeply. When Emma groaned into her mouth, Regina pushed her tongue inside at the same time as her hands found their way to Emma’s ribcage. She slid her hands up until they could cradle the undersides of Emma’s breasts lightly.

Emma pulled away from the kiss to nod her head. Happy with the encouragement to keep going, Regina inched her fingers up and up, pressing harder as she went until she had both palms resting solidly against Emma’s nipples.

“God, I love the way you touch me,” Emma sighed. 

Regina hummed in agreement. Her body was aching to be touched, but she would be patient for Emma. As if responding to her unspoken desire, though, Emma began to run her hands up and down Regina’s back, occasionally turning her fingers to scratch her lightly. Regina couldn’t help but moan every time she felt the bite of Emma’s nails on her skin. 

Regina rubbed her thumbs over Emma’s nipples, which were hard and clearly very sensitive, if her shifting and sighing were any indication. She pressed gently on Emma’s sternum to get her to lie back down, giving Regina better access to bring her mouth to where her thumbs were. She licked and sucked over Emma’s breasts and flicked her tongue across her nipples, loving the way Emma gripped her hair and pushed her chest up to meet her.

“Regina,” Emma gasped. “I want…”

Regina kissed her way up Emma’s neck so she could suck on the spot just below her earlobe. “Tell me what you want, Emma.”

“I want to feel you on me.” She grabbed at Regina to pull her down onto her body. 

Regina let her hips settle onto Emma’s but kept her weight resting on her elbows so as not to crush her. Emma teased her legs apart with her knee. Regina took the hint and shifted so her soaking wet center was now resting on one of Emma’s thighs. Emma moaned, her hands flying to Regina’s back to press her in.

“I like having your weight on me,” Emma whispered.

Regina bit her lip. It felt like an incredibly intimate thing to say, though she couldn’t say why. It also reminded her to clearly of the first time they’d had sex, and it just felt right. Craving more, she took one of Emma’s hands and guided it back to that spot on her belly that made Emma’s magic flow through her. Emma pressed her palm into it, and every time her fingers moved, Regina felt little sparks race through her. She put a hand on Emma’s chest and started to roll her hips. The feeling of Emma’s thigh between her legs and the tingling in her limbs from her magic had Regina’s arousal spiraling upwards instantly. She leaned down to kiss Emma, moaning into her mouth like she knew Emma loved. Emma responded to the vibration by bucking her hips up and grasping Regina’s back tightly. 

Emma broke away from the kiss and suddenly stopped moving. She caught Regina’s gaze before saying slowly, “I want something else.”

Regina just nodded, wanting to give her anything and everything in this moment.

Emma licked her lips, making Regina’s stomach do little flip flops as she followed the movement of her tongue.

“I want you to turn around, so we can fuck each other with our mouths.”

Regina laughed awkwardly at the crass language, but her body hummed with desire at the idea. She needed to check in, though, just to be sure.

“You’re ready for that?” she asked, hoping Emma would understand that she was second guessing her simply out of care for her well-being.

Emma smiled. “I’m ready,” she said. “I think it will help.”

Regina didn’t press her for details. She just gave her a quick kiss before maneuvering herself around so her hips were directly over Emma’s face. She leaned down and breathed in the smell of Emma’s arousal, and then without another thought went to work with her tongue and her lips. When she felt Emma do the same, she gasped and shuddered. It was everything. She was surrounded by Emma, and her body was on fire in the most incredible way. 

Regina was perfectly content to stay right where she was, hovering on the edge of a climax that didn’t seem to want to come. It didn’t matter though, not when her mouth and her pussy and her limbs and her belly were all so connected to Emma. Her Emma. Emma, who loved her, truly, if that curse-breaking kiss was to be believed. And she did believe it. Because Emma came back to her. In the morning, Regina would probably remember to be angry about her running away, but for right now, it was enough that she’d come back. Both of them had healing to do, and they were going to do it together.

Emma started to moan into her skin, and the movements of her tongue stalled out. Regina spared herself a moment of pride that she got to be the one to make Emma sound like that, before paying better attention to what she was doing, giving Emma exactly the right amount of stimulation to bring her over the edge. Emma’s legs shook as she came, groaning into Regina’s thighs. Regina kept her mouth there, gently licking to coax every last shudder out of her lover. When Emma went quiet, Regina peered around to see how she was doing. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing hard, but her face looked peaceful in a way it hadn’t all day. 

Regina climbed off and turned around, wiping her face off before crawling up so she could lay her head on Emma’s shoulder. Emma pulled her in close and kissed her head while Regina rubbed soothing circles on her chest.

She nuzzled her nose into Emma’s neck. “Did that help?” she asked quietly.

Emma nodded. Regina waited to see if she would say more. 

Eventually, she did. “I think I kind of dissociated when I was locked up. Getting my magic back helped a lot, but I was still kind of feeling outside of my body.”

Regina hummed. “That makes sense.”

Emma kissed her head again. “This is all so weird.”

“What is?”

“That other world. It’s fading into memory a lot faster than real life does.”

“I know what you mean.”

Emma squeezed her tighter. “You’re real, though. And I really love you.”

Regina laughed.

“You know what I mean,” Emma grumbled.

“Yes, I do. But that was an adorable way to say it.”

Emma rolled her eyes, but then looked at her seriously again. “I need you know that, Regina,” she said. “I need you to know that even if we eventually forget everything that happened there, I’ll still love you. Because … well, because I do. We’ve been through a lot together, and I trust you because of that. And I feel like … I feel like things make more sense when you’re around.”

Regina sighed. She did need to hear that. And the fact that Emma knew she needed to hear it, well, that said about all that needed to be said, didn’t it?

Emma threaded her hands through Regina’s hair, twirling it around her fingers. “Now,” she said, her voice deepening in a way that let Regina know she was ready to go back to sexier topics, “what I want to know is what kind of fantasies you had about me back before any of this happened. When you started to have  _ feelings  _ for me.”

Regina threw Emma her best dismissive smirk, which Emma just laughed at. 

“There is no way you’re getting that information out of me, Miss Swan,” she said.

“Oh really?” Emma replied, and in one swift motion rolled them over so she was on top. She began to kiss and nip along Regina’s skin, each time looking back up to her as if to say  _ will you tell me now _ ?

“Nice try,” said Regina after about the fifth time. “Still not telling.” But the hitch in her voice seemed to convince Emma that her tactic was working. She found that damn spot on Regina’s abdomen again, and swirled her tongue over it. The sensations drove Regina crazy, and she writhed under Emma’s touch. Her body was still incredibly sensitive and worked up, and it didn’t take long for her to be panting out “please, Emma.”

“Tell me what you want,” Emma whispered between kisses. “I’ll do it, just tell me what you want.”

At that, Regina knew she’d lose this little game. She’d tell Emma what she wanted. Emma would do it. Then Emma would ask if it was a fantasy of hers, and Regina would have no choice but to admit that it was. Because she had thought about Emma all the time before. She’d thought about what her mouth would taste like, and how her fingers would feel inside of her, and what she’d look like when she came. Regina had thought about that last one extensively, and she had to admit that even the dirtiest visions her mind had supplied didn’t come close to the real thing. 

But right now, her physical need was overriding her need to win, so she mustered up one last smirk, just so it didn’t look like she’d caved quite so easily, before dropping her head back.

“I just want you to touch me like you used to,” she said quietly. She heard the sadness in her voice, and then suddenly she felt it in her heart, too. She had missed Emma so damn much. She had worried about her, and whispered goodnight to her every night, and longed for her every day for months. And Emma had suffered, and was trying to make sense of it, and was lying on top of her asking what she wanted. It was so much, and Regina felt her emotions well up.

“Regina,” Emma whispered. “Shhhhh, it’s OK.”

Emma kissed her cheeks, which were now wet with tears, as Regina held her close.

“I thought I’d lost you,” said Regina.

“Nope,” said Emma, kissing the corner of her mouth. “You’re stuck with me now.”

Regina smiled up at her. “Good.”

Emma kissed her then, and Regina felt her heart settle down, finally. There was a lot to be figured out, and she had no doubt that the coming weeks would be complicated and difficult. But with Emma here with her, she felt like she could face it.

She kissed Emma back, passionately, and then let her body lead, feeling it respond to Emma’s increasingly insistent touches until all she could feel was that delicious tightness in her belly as Emma’s fingers coaxed out her long-awaited release. She cried Emma’s name as she came, and held onto her so tight her hands ached. She peppered light kisses on Emma’s face, and whispered “I love you.” It felt so good to say that she said it again. 

Emma smiled that ear-to-ear grin that Regina so loved. “I love you, too, Regina,” she said, rolling onto her side and tangling their legs together. 

Regina didn’t mean to fall asleep so quickly after that, but she supposed she needed it after everything that had happened in the past few days. And when she woke up in the morning with Emma still in her arms, she smiled.  _ I’m not alone anymore _ , she thought.

 

***

The memories of that other world faded, but Regina and Emma told the story of how they fell in love often enough that they both felt like they remembered it better than they probably did. And Regina was right - they had a lot to work through. It took time for everyone to process the sudden reversal of roles the Author had imposed on them, and even longer to settle into a new normal with the social fabric of the town looking pretty different than it had before.

But Regina had never been happier. And she hoped that Emma felt the same way.

One spring night after dinner, with Henry settled down to work on homework, Emma asked Regina if she’d like to go for a walk. It wasn’t the kind of thing Emma usually went for, so Regina agreed, but with the expectation that Emma had something she wanted to talk about.

It didn’t take long for her suspicions to prove correct.

“Do you think you’d want to get married?” Emma asked as they strolled around the moonlit park.

“What?” Regina said, startled. 

“Not, you know, right now. Just someday. Is that something you want?”

Regina hesitated before responding. But if there was one thing she’d learned over the last year it was that honesty was always the best thing with Emma.

“Actually, no,” she said quietly. 

“Oh. OK,” Emma responded. She sounded nonchalant, but Regina wasn’t sure she trusted that.

She stopped and took Emma’s hand in hers. 

“It’s not about you, Emma,” she explained. “It’s just … marriage was always transactional for me. It was about power and status, not love. And I don’t want that for you, for us. I want… “

She pulled Emma even closer, feeling the warmth from her skin and holding her tight. “I want to wake up every day and choose you.”

Emma’s face softened into a brilliant smile. “I love that,” she said. “I’ve been feeling this, I don’t know, pull to do something big and romantic because I just want you to know that I’m all in. I’m all in, Regina. I love you, and I love the life we’ve built, and I want it to continue to be our lives for a long time. But I wasn’t sure that marriage was the right thing, which is I why I wanted to ask you about it.”

She stopped to kiss Regina quickly, then rested their foreheads together and whispered. “I choose you, Regina. And I’m going to keep choosing you every single day.”

Regina closed her eyes. This. This was what she’d always wanted: love, family, home. It was unconventional, and unexpected, and perfectly imperfect. For the first time, she felt like she could trust that she wouldn’t have to be alone ever again.

“I love you, Emma.”

“I love you, too, Regina.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Heroes and Lovers [ART]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15792375) by [Lego_Femslash (Alicepire)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alicepire/pseuds/Lego_Femslash)




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